The Hungarian Central Statistical Office revealed some shocking numbers: 54% of the Hungarian nation is obese or overweight. As it turns out, Hungary has the highest obesity rate in Europe, and only the people of the United States, Mexico and New-Zealand are heavier than Hungarians, Index.hu and Népszava report.
A recent publication by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) on the condition of the Hungarian population’s health revealed shocking numbers.
54% of the Hungarian nation is obese or overweight
Lack of exercise
Being overweight is very closely related to the lack of physical exercise and unhealthy diets. Statistics revealed that:
- 53% of Hungarians do absolutely no sports or physical exercise in their free time,
- ¼ of Hungarians do some kind of physical exercise 1-3 times a month
- approximately ¾ of Hungarians are inactive
Moreover, 6% of the nation could not even walk 500m. The lack of physical exercise not only contributes to weight gain, but it also causes many health problems. Hungary annually spends as much money on treating health problems caused by the lack of exercise as it would cost to host the Olympics.
Hungarians can look forward to 67 healthy years in life
Unhealthy diet
The huge number of overweight people is not only due to the lack of exercise but to their unhealthy diet as well. Not eating well contributes to weight gain as much, if not more, as the lack of physical exercise.
The report also shows that only one third of Hungarians over the age of 15 eat vegetables and fruit every day, Népszava reports.
It is usually families in better financial situations who can afford to eat vegetables and fruit daily, and
¼ of the poorest families cannot even afford to eat vegetables once a week.
Unhealthy habits
Besides unhealthy eating, certain unhealthy habits, such as smoking or drinking alcohol could also be blamed for the high No. of overweight people in the country. ¼ of the nation drinks alcohol regularly.
30% of Hungarian men and 20% of Hungarian women are daily smokers, and it seems that this number will only increase in the future.
28,000 deaths (out of 130,000) were due to diseases that are the direct consequences of smoking.
Hungarian public health programme focuses on prevention, says Human Resources Minister
Source: www.index.hu; www.nepszava.hu
2 comments
Right! The people picture in the photos, the two most visible are ethnic Romas. One would appreciate the dietary differences among Hungarians and some of the ethnic Hungarians.. There are too many different cultural differences in what everyone eats and how they work and work out in Hungary to call this a HUNGARIAN study. Go back to the drawing boards and study much better what you preach.. This was a quack study of a small group in Hungary. Hungarians i know and see are not rich and eat meager balanced diets, no study needed here.
Odd. I went to the piac today — a carrot, an onion, two apple-peppers, a half a kilo of string beans. Together, less than HUF500. For me that’s two or three meals. Whatever is keeping Magyars from eating vegetables, it’s not the cost, I think.