Lack of exercise
Health risks: Germans are sitting longer and longer
According to a report, the time that people in Germany spend sitting has been increasing continuously for years. photo
© Finn Winkler/dpa
In the car, at work, in front of the tablet or TV: According to a report, the time that people in this country spend sitting is constantly increasing. Why this is an alarm signal for experts.
Without comprehensive preventive measures, society “is headed straight for a health and socio-economic crisis at the beginning of the next few decades,” warns one of the scientific directors, Cologne-based sports scientist Ingo Froboese, in the foreword. He calls for exercise to become part of everyday routine and for sport to take a place at the center of society again. It is the seventh edition of the DKV report “How healthy is Germany?” since 2010. Lifestyle information is based on telephone surveys.
Less than one in five lives a healthy life
According to the criteria of the report, 17 percent of those surveyed achieve values that are equivalent to an all-round healthy life in all areas surveyed: These include physical activity, nutrition, alcohol and tobacco consumption and the perception of stress. The authors rate this as a low level. After a dip in the Corona year 2021, at only eleven percent at the time, the proportion has at least leveled off again at the level of the time before the pandemic.
According to the report, the 30 to 45-year-olds, who often have to reconcile work, childcare and caring for relatives, live a rather unhealthy life. Only one in ten people of that age achieve values of an all-round healthy life. The standards used by the researchers are based on recommendations from various institutions, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the German Society for Nutrition (DGE).
As a positive development, the report highlights, among other things, declining smoking rates (85 percent do not smoke). There has also been progress in dealing with stress.
risk sitting
The authors consider the ever-increasing amounts of time per day that Germans spend sitting to be worrying: on workdays, the average is now 9.2 hours, half an hour more than in 2021. According to data from 2015, people then had 7 .5 hours a day sat. According to the current survey, the 18 to 29 year olds sit the longest, with more than 10 hours a day.
The WHO warns that sitting for long periods of time can increase the risk of developing heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. “A reduction in daily sitting times through exercise significantly reduces the risk of death,” said Froboese, according to the announcement. The team of authors also emphasizes the importance of regular muscle training: This is also an important protective factor against the need for care in old age. So far, almost half of Germans have not done any such training.
The results also indicate a worrying trend when it comes to subjective psychological well-being: the results are critical for around a quarter of Germans – so that they can be seen as the first indication of the development of depression. Regular exercise in particular can bring more well-being: “Those who feel good move more or those who move more feel better,” it said.
What movement recommendations look like
Sitting: Experts have not yet been able to say for sure how long a person sits every day. In general, however, the advice is to reduce this time. The longer you sit, the more movement is necessary to compensate for the health risk, explains Birgit Sperlich from the University of Würzburg, who led the study with Froboese. She cites a study according to which people who sit for more than eight hours a day could only compensate for their health risk by doing at least 60 to 75 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a day.
Exercise: Any physical activity is better than none – and more is better, as WHO points out. For health and wellbeing, she recommends all adults get at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Be it at work, at home, during sports or in your free time. “Moderate-intensive exercise corresponds to an exercise that makes you sweat very easily and makes you breathe a little harder, such as going for a walk,” explains Sperlich. With more intense exercise, you have to spend less time for the same health benefits.
How the results come about
According to the information, the results of the survey of 2800 adults are representative. However, there were no physical examinations. The authors themselves point to the risk that respondents on the phone could give more socially desirable answers. For example, they might claim to eat vegetables more regularly than they actually do. In this respect, it cannot be ruled out that the report paints an overly positive picture.