Questions and Answers on Physical Activity

MEMO/07/335

Brussels, 30 August 2007

Questions and Answers on physical activity

Physical activity does not seem to rank highly on the European citizen’s weekly agenda, two studies conducted in 2002 and 2005 indicate.

According to the 2005 Eurobarometer on Health and Food, almost six out of 10 respondents (57%) said they had done little or no physical activity for recreation, sport and leisure purposes. In the 2002 Eurobarometer on Physical Activity that figure was considerably lower, but still quite high, as 46% of the respondents said they had done little or no physical activity for recreation, sport and leisure. (*)

Here are some of the more detailed results of the respondents’ replies in the two surveys:

Question: In the last 7 days, how much physical activity did you do in terms of recreation, sport and leisure time activities?

Leisure time / 2002 EU 15 / 2005 EU 25
A lot / 14.9% / 16%
Some / 36.6% / 28%
Little or none / 46% / 57%
Not answered / 2.6%

In both surveys about half of the respondents said they did little or no physical activity in their leisure time. This, and the fact that the numbers of those doing some physical activity declined between 2002 and 2005, are among the most disturbing conclusions about the role physical activity plays in the lives of European citizens.

The physical activity rates vary considerably between countries both in the 2002 and in the 2005 study. Although the results vary between the two studies when it comes to comparisons in terms of Member State, gender, age or social group, the main pattern is that men do more sport than women. The same can be said about younger v. older people and about those with higher education compared to those with lower education.

Question: In the last 7 days, how many days did you do vigorous physical activities?

Between 2002 and 2005, in EU15 the numbers of days with vigorous physical activities increased from 1.4 to 1.5. The EU25 average in 2005 was 1.6 days. More vigorously physically active were the Lithuanian with 2.8 days and were followed by the Estonians (2.3 days). The Maltese were less enthusiastic about vigorous physical activities with 0.8 days and were followed by the Spaniards with one day.

The average duration of physical activity during the day varied considerably between the countries with Malta on the bottom with 29.8 minutes and Slovakia on the top 167.6 minutes.

The days devoted to moderate physical activity was constant between 2002 and 2005 for the EU15 and was 2.5 days on average for the EU25. Once again Malta bottomed the list with 0,6 days and the Netherlands topped it with 4.6 days. Time spent on moderate physical activity varied considerably between the countries – from 23.4 minutes in Malta to 168.7 minutes in Slovakia.

Question: In the last 7 days how many times did you walk for at least 10 minutes? (asked in both surveys)

In 2005, the average was 4.6 days. In 2002 the E15 average was 4.2 days. Data on days respondents walked varies considerably between the different groups. The younger people, those living in larger cities and those with longer studies were the most frequent walkers. Walking seems to decrease with increasing weight.

The average walking time also varied between countries with Malta, Cyprus and Portugal at the lowest end (28.6 minutes), and Slovakia (137.3 minutes) at the highest.

The percentage of respondents declaring they had never walked for at least 10 minutes at a time fell significantly from 2002 to 2005 for the EU 15 – from 21% to 13%, which is a promising drop.

In both surveys, about three out of four respondents said they had enough opportunity to be physically active, but when asked if they used it more than half (2005 survey) declared they had not enough time to be physically active.

Question: In the last 7 days, how much physical activity did you get at work?

PA at work / 2002 EU 15 / 2005 EU 25
A lot / 19.9% / 19%
Some / 21.8% / 18%
Little or none / 49.4% / 59%
Not answered / 9.3% / 4%

The amount of physical activity on work varied considerably between member states in both Eurobarometers. On average there seems to be little change between the two studies.

The socio-demographic analysis of the 2005 study reveals that men, aged 25-54, and those who finished their studies between the ages of 16 and 19, get most physical activity at work.

Question: In the last 7 days, how much physical activity did you do when moving from place to place?

Transport / 2002 EU 15 / 2005 EU 25
A lot / 15.7% / 22%
Some / 52.1% / 42%
Little or none / 30.5% / 34%
Not answered / 1.6%

Answers between countries varied considerably but change between the two surveys seemed to be small on average. Younger people, workers of manual labour, the unemployed and students were the most physically active in this category.

Question: In the last 7 days, how much physical activity did you do when working in and around your house?

Housework / 2002 EU 15 / 2005 EU 25
A lot / 24.6% / 27%
Some / 49.5% / 40%
Little or none / 24.6% / 31%
Not answered / 1.3%

Both surveys not unsurprisingly reveal that women get more physical activity than men at housework.

*NOTE:

The Eurobarometer on Health and Food survey was carried out in November and December 2005. The questionnaire, compared to the one posed in the Eurobarometer on Physical Activity (Oct.–Dec. 2002), was revised. However, several questions can still be used for comparative purposes in the EU15.

The breakdown of the questions differs between the two studies. The 2005 survey provides more information on physical activity broken down by socioeconomic factors than the 2002 study.