[Prevalence of healthy lifestyle in adult residents of Lódź and Lublin voivodeships--project WOBASZ].

BACKGROUND

Recent epidemiologic studies have provided clear evidence of the substantial health benefits of following a healthy lifestyle. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of healthy lifestyle behaviors in the representative sample of adult inhabitants of two Polish counties (Lodz and Lublin voivodships).

METHODS

We analyzed data from 1237 randomly selected persons (645 women, 592 men) aged 20-74 years participating in the National Health Survey in Poland - Project WOBASZ. The following 4 healthy lifestyle behaviors were analyzed: nonsmoking, healthy weight, adequate consumption of fruit and vegetables, and regular physical activity. The 4 behaviors were summed to create a lifestyle index (range 0-4), and following all 4 behaviors were defined as a healthy lifestyle index.

RESULTS

The prevalence of the individual health behaviors was as follows: nonsmoking--67%, healthy weight--43%, fruit and vegetables consumption--58%, and regular physical activity--35% of the studied population. The overall prevalence of the healthy lifestyle index (following all 4 behaviors) was 5.4% while in 3.8% the index was 0, in 25.6% was 1, and in 38.2% and 26.9% was 2 and 3, respectively. The prevalence of healthy lifestyle was significantly higher in women, younger, better educated, living in the country and small towns, with higher subjective health state.

CONCLUSIONS

Extremely low prevalence of adults following 4 common modifiable healthy behaviors supports the need for more intensive and comprehensive primary prevention activities with special attention paid to significant differences in everyday lifestyle between various sociodemographic groups.