According to opinion polls, the majority of respondents (more than 70%) are sure that a person’s health is greatly affected by his lifestyle. But these are all subjective opinions of the survey participants; in practice, everything turned out to be completely different. This was shown by a study conducted by scientists from the Institute of Social Sciences of the Presidential Academy, Andrei Pokida and Natalya Zybunovskaya, the results of which were reviewed by socialbites.ca.
In the process of answering the questions, 55.5% of the respondents stated that they lead a healthy lifestyle. There was no significant change in the past year; the share of such answers last year was 56.2%. The maximum level was observed in 2021 and amounted to 63.7%.
However, previous studies have shown that those who say they lead a healthy lifestyle smoke regularly (15.7%), do not follow a healthy diet and nutrition regime (21.8%) and do not do physical exercise and sports in their free time (37.5%). And only 11.2% (5.0% in 2010) adhere to a healthy lifestyle: this share decreased by 1.8 percentage points last year.
“The discrepancy between the declared attitude towards a healthy lifestyle and the actual behavioral practices of Russians has been noted in previous studies. At the same time, during the monitoring period (since 2008) this situation has somewhat improved; we see that people have become more responsible in taking care of their health and implementing the basic principles of a healthy lifestyle. This is manifested in an increase in people’s physical activity, especially in their participation in physical culture and sports, and a decrease in alcohol consumption.” .
According to the results of a survey conducted in 2024, the principles of a healthy lifestyle in the 50-59 age group (16.3%) are often not fully observed in practice.
The survey participants identified several factors that have the most negative impact on their health: stressful situations (in the family, at work, etc.) – 38.9%, non-compliance with healthy eating and diet – 37.9%, sedentary lifestyle – 35 . 6%, sleep disturbance (absence or improper sleep schedule) – 33.9%, bad habits – 27.1%.
The researchers noted that 17.6 percent and 13.6 percent of the respondents indicated untimely visits to medical institutions in case of illness as negative factors, including self-medication, non-compliance with doctor’s recommendations and ignoring preventive measures.
Stressful situations are more often cited as the cause of health problems by those engaged in mental work (46.3%) and those working remotely (47.9%). The same categories of workers also emphasize the problem of a sedentary lifestyle more (43.1% and 49.3%).
Non-compliance with a healthy diet and nutrition regime is more often noted by employers (50.0%) and overweight respondents (46.3%), sleep disorders (incomplete and inappropriate mode) – those who are busy with housework (46.9%), students (44.4%), female viewers (38.0%).
Bad habits are more often recognized as having a negative impact on health among men (38.9%), freelancers (36.2%), manual workers (36.2%) and temporarily unemployed citizens (35.7%). Every second employer sees a problem with their health due to non-compliance with the work and rest regime (overtime, lack of vacation).
But among the male audience, the practice of going to medical institutions (doctors) in case of discomfort or illness is somewhat lower. But even if men do go to the doctor, they follow his recommendations much less often than women. Also, according to representatives of the stronger sex, the most negative impact on their health is due to sleep disturbance (lack of sleep and improper sleep patterns), non-compliance with a healthy diet and nutrition regime. In middle-aged groups, these are primarily stressful situations (in the family, at work, etc.), in older age groups, a sedentary lifestyle.
It was there before named The unclear causes of stress among Russians.