Healthy message clear but not being practised, says new survey - 13 September 2001
People from the north west and the south of England are aware of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, but don’t put theory into practice, a new survey has revealed.The survey undertaken by Marie Curie Cancer Care and Yellow Pages during a series of Health Roadshows showed that although people are concerned about health, diet and weight, they are not prepared to change their lifestyle significantly.
Although a credible 67% of respondents knew they should eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, only 18% in the north west and 25% in the south actually met that target.
Just 45% of the sample claimed to exercise daily, with 18% exercising weekly and a staggering 14% admitting to doing no exercise at all.
The survey showed that women are better than men when it comes to checking themselves. 45% of women in the south and 58% in the north west regularly check their breasts for lumps, compared with only 24% of men in the South and 27% in the north west who regularly check for testicular changes.
Encouragingly, however, more than 90% of those questioned (both men and women) said they would see a doctor immediately if they found a lump or irregular mole.
On an equally positive note, the survey results illustrate that of all those questioned, 48% knew the recommended alcohol levels for men and 65% were aware of the recommended levels for women. And, according to the results, only a very small percentage of people (4% overall) were drinking more than the recommended levels.
20% of all those surveyed admitted to smoking between one and five cigarettes a day.
