running

Icelanders and Norwegians exercise the most in Europe

Icelanders do more sport and exercise than other European nations according to a survey by Eurostat, surveying the number of Europeans that exercise a minimum of 150 minutes each week on their free time.

Just over 60% of Icelanders reach that goal, which is double the average of Europe Norway follows closely with 57% of Norwegians reaching the goal. According to Visir’s report the World Health Organization recommends 150 hours a week of exercise. “Physical inactivity is now identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality” According to WHO’s website “Physical inactivity levels are rising in many countries with major implications for the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and the general health of the population worldwide.”

Within the EU nearly half of the population aged 18 or over did not do any sport, almost a third spent at least two and a half hours per week of leisure time doing physical activities in 2014, including bike cycling as a form of transportation.

The report informs “The proportion of those exercising for at least two and a half hours per week is higher for men (34.5%) than for women (25.6%). While the proportion of time spent on exercise tends to decrease with age, it tends to increase with the education level of the individual.

Overall in the EU, 40.5% of the highly-educated people spent at least two and a half hours per week on physical activities, compared to less than a quarter (19.2%) of those with a low education level.

Two and a half hours of moderate-intensity physical activity per week is the minimum level of physical activity recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for adults aged 18 or over.”

The report concludes with information about the Nordic countries Informing that “Nordic Member States have the highest share of people doing physical activities. In the EU, the highest proportions of people who spent at least two and a half hours per week exercising were found in Finland (54.1%), Denmark (53.4%) and Sweden (53.1%) followed by Austria (49.8%) and Germany (47.3%). At the opposite end of the scale, Romania (7.5%) and Bulgaria (9.0%) recorded the lowest shares.”