Proportion of Russians adhering to a healthy lifestyle has decreased in the pandemic But the number of anti-cheaters has also decreased
In 2020 the number of Russians adhering to healthy habits decreased by a quarter. Ingushetia and Sevastopol are among the regions with the highest number of healthy lifestyle supporters, while the NAO and the Magadan region are among the regions with the lowest number.
In 2020, the year in which the main blow of the pandemic came, the number of adherents of a healthy lifestyle in Russia decreased by a quarter, according to a study by the international audit and consulting network FinExpertiza (available from RBC), based on Rosstat data. While in 2019 there were 12% of the total population aged 15 and over (14.5 million people), in 2020 their number dropped to 8.9% (10.8 million), that is, by 3.7 million people.
At the same time, the number of anti-cheaters, that is, people leading unhealthy lifestyles, according to Rosstat criteria, also dropped by a third, from 50.1% in 2019 to 33.5% in 2020. "Essentially, Russians began to strive for the golden mean - not severely restricting themselves, but also not allowing themselves too much," the study stated. - About 20 million hardened opponents of a healthy lifestyle moved into the zone of "satisfactory" HLS in 2020.
When carrying out calculations, FinExpertiza was guided by the updated information provided by Rosstat on the number of healthy lifestyle enthusiasts in the regions in 2019 and 2020 (RBC has the June answer of the federal service to the experts). This data differs from that published on the agency's website last December. RBC sent an inquiry to Rosstat.
Rosstat conducted a sample health survey in August-September 2020, covering 60,000 households. The volume and parameters of the sample allow extrapolating the study data to the entire adult population of Russia, so FinExpertiza was able to estimate the total number of people in the country committed to a healthy lifestyle.
The national project "Demography", the budget of which amounts to 3,11 trillion rubles, assumes achievement of such targets as growth of the share of citizens leading a healthy lifestyle and increase of healthy life expectancy to 67 years; the number of Russians leading a healthy lifestyle should amount to 12%. According to the government decree within the frameworks of this National project till 2024 there will be held annual sampling observation of the state of health of the population.
Who can be considered a zhizhnik (excessively physically fit person)?
Rosstat, according to the methodology approved in 2019, divides people according to their attitude toward a healthy lifestyle into three groups. People with a "high commitment to a healthy lifestyle" include Russians who simultaneously follow five principles:
do not smoke;
consume at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day;
Have at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week;
consume no more than 5 g of salt a day;
consume no more than 168 g of pure alcohol per week for men (about 0.4 L of 40-degree alcohol or two bottles of 12-degree wine or three liters of 4-degree beer) and no more than 84 g for women (0.2 L of spirits or one bottle of wine or 1.5 liters of beer).
Those who do not smoke and do not comply with one of the four remaining rules are considered "satisfactory healthy consumers. Rosstat categorizes smokers and those who break two or more of the four remaining rules as antizogynists. When estimating the overall drop in the number of goiters, the study only considered people with high adherence to this lifestyle.
For 2020, the number of Russians seriously committed to a healthy lifestyle decreased in most regions - 55 out of 85, the study also says. The Nenets Autonomous Region showed the worst dynamics: there are no people there who strictly follow all five rules of a healthy lifestyle (minus 100%). FinExpertiza specified that this was partly explained by the fact that before the pandemic, HVA was not particularly popular in the region - there were only about 700 people with high adherence to this way of life (with a high percentage of moderate goiters). The Magadan region also lost almost all of its strict goiters (minus 99%, or minus 17,000 people).
In addition, this anti-rating included Buryatia, Tver Region, Chuvashia, Kemerovo, Voronezh, Orenburg, Belgorod, and Yaroslavl regions.
In contrast, the number of people in the 30 regions during the COVID-19 pandemic year who observed all five WHRDs increased. North Ossetia showed the best dynamics: the number of healthy lifestyles increased sixfold, with an increase of about 109 thousand people. The rating is followed by the Sakhalin, Tambov, Bryansk regions, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Orel Region, Sevastopol, Transbaikal Territory, Khabarovsk Territory and Astrakhan Region.
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