What effects does the pandemic have on the health of Germans? This is one of the questions that the “DKV Report 2021” asks. One thing is clear: many exercise too little.
Düsseldorf – According to a study, Germans spend an alarming amount of time sitting and cannot cope with stress adequately. Only around every ninth citizen leads an “all-round healthy” lifestyle with a view to diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and stress levels.
This emerges from the “DKV Report 2021”, which the head of the study Ingo Froböse from the Sport University Cologne and the German health insurance company presented on Monday. On behalf of the insurer, the university evaluated the data of 2,800 representatively interviewed people aged 18 and over.
The statements required action, warned Froböse. “Germans feel increasingly stressed.” According to a survey from spring 2021, around 60 percent cannot find any way to reduce or compensate for the perceived stress. It is also worrying: “The trend that we are becoming more and more sluggish continues,” as the CEO of DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung, Clemens Muth, emphasized. The pandemic also left its mark on the professional relocation from the desk to the home office.
The report “How healthy does Germany live?”, Which has been compiled for the sixth time since 2010, showed: Germans spend an average of 8.5 hours sitting on workdays – one hour more than in 2018. The increase is particularly strong among young adults. According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, around 70 percent of those surveyed are physically active for more than 300 minutes per week – in 2010 that was 83 percent. dpa
