Our health is our most valuable asset – and we have the power to make a significant contribution to it.
How healthy are we and what mechanisms can we as a population use to influence our health? In 2022, the Federal Statistical Office conducted the seventh Swiss Health Survey since 1992 [1]. Let’s start with the good news: 85% of the population feels healthy, and 83% happy. On the other hand, the mental stress level has risen significantly since the last survey in 2017, especially among young people between the ages of 15 and 24. And especially among women in that age range.
On average, 85% of the population in Switzerland described their state of health as good or even very good.
There’s a correlation between the level of education and the state of health. The lower the level of education, the lower the proportion of people who rated their state of health as good or very good. This applies across all age ranges.
More than 82.6% of the Swiss population stated that they were happy throughout the four weeks before the survey. However, 29% of women aged between 15 and 24 reported feeling a medium to high level of mental stress. For men in the same age group, it was only 16.4%. What’s striking is that, compared to the 2017 Health Survey, this value has increased by 10 percentage points for women, and just 6.8 percentage points for men. In other words, almost one in three women aged 15 to 24 appears to be exposed to moderate or high mental stress.
22% of the population stated that they felt slightly restricted in their everyday lives due to a health problem, while 5% stated feeling severely restricted. These values remain largely unchanged since 2012.
In the 2022 Swiss Health Survey, 22% of men and 17% of women reported suffering from high blood pressure or taking medication. This proportion increases with age. Over the age of 65, more than one in two (53%) men and 45% of women reported having high blood pressure. This problem has steadily increased since 1992 and now affects 20% of the population and 49% of people aged 65 and over.
There are two types of diabetes. In type I diabetes, too little insulin is produced, which is why it must be supplemented. Type II diabetes is caused by insulin resistance and is much more common, accounting for 90 to 95% of all diabetes cases. It typically occurs at an advanced age and is strongly associated with the individual’s lifestyle. In Switzerland, too, the proportion of people with diabetes increases sharply with age. Among those over 65 years of age, 16.2% of men and 9.2% of women suffer from diabetes.
In 2022, men were significantly more likely to be overweight than women (39% compared to 23%). 43% of the Swiss population are overweight or obese. With this, Switzerland actually ranks well globally – it’s one of the countries with the lowest proportion of overweight people. In the case of obesity, a considerable social injustice is apparent. At 21%, the risk of obesity is significantly higher among people with no post-compulsory education than among people with a tertiary qualification (9%). Overweight is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal problems, high blood pressure, etc.
The importance of exercise and sport when it comes to health is well known. And 76% of the population in Switzerland did, in fact, move enough in 2022 to be classified as active. The 8% who exercised less than 30 minutes per week are considered sedentary.
81% of young adults under the age of 25 get enough exercise, while 5% are sedentary. The differences between the individual age groups are few. At 79%, men are slightly more active compared to women at 73%. The higher the education, the higher the proportion of active people (tertiary education: 80%; compulsory education: 60%).
What’s positive to see is that older people spend less time sitting; meanwhile, 43% of people with a tertiary education spend 8 or more hours a day sitting, compared with 10% of people with no post-compulsory education.
71% of the population take their diet into consideration and pay attention to certain aspects – an encouraging result. At 66%, men still have some catching up to do compared with 76% of women.
16% stated that they ate at least five portions of fruit per day and/or ate vegetables on at least five days. Here, too, a social gradient is evident. Again, people with a tertiary education are more likely to eat fruit and vegetables regularly than people without post-compulsory education (19% compared to 9%).
In general, meat consumption is on the decline and has been since 1992. Since then, the proportion of people who stated they consumed meat every day has halved (from 25% to 12%).
Over 83% of the population reported drinking alcohol in 2022. 65% of men and 46% of women reported drinking alcohol at least once a week. At 21% compared to 13%, the proportion of women living in abstinence is significantly higher than that of men.
24% of the population reported smoking: 27% of men and 21% of women. Among 65-year-olds, the proportions are largely the same, with the percentage of smokers quickly declining from the age of 65 and up.
Our health is our most valuable asset – so we should care for it. The WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity [2]. This is the basis for this summary and discussion.
Education level appears to have a major influence on the self-perceived state of health, as it’s lowest in all categories among people who have only completed compulsory education. This is also reflected in life expectancy, which is longer for people who’re better off socially. At the beginning of 2010, people with a tertiary education lived on average 2.1 years longer than people without post-compulsory education and 1.3 years longer than people with an upper secondary level education [3]. The social gradient is also evident when comparing living situations. People who own their own home are more likely to say they are in very good or good health than tenants (87% compared to 83%) [3]. Even so, it’s important to note that on average 85% of the population in Switzerland describe their overall state of health as good or very good –
and 82.6% say they’re happy. What’s striking, however, is the sharp increase in reported mental stress of 10 percentage points among young women aged 15 to 24 compared to the 2017 health survey. This figure should be closely monitored and measures developed and implemented to relieve the burden on young women.
In 2017, 18% of the population suffered from high blood pressure. 5 years later, this figure has risen to 20%. High blood pressure is strongly linked to individual health behaviour. Obese or overweight people have a 4.5 and 2 times higher risk of high blood pressure, respectively, than people with a normal weight [3]. High blood pressure is also significantly more pronounced in people who have only completed compulsory schooling compared to people with a tertiary education (30.7% compared to 13.7%) [3]. The social gradient is also reflected in cholesterol levels and diabetes.
43% of the Swiss population are overweight or obese. Here, too, there’s a considerable social gradient: the risk of obesity is significantly higher among people with no post-compulsory education than those with a university degree (21% compared to 8%) [3].
We still have room for improvement in terms of physical activity. Still, it’s nice to see that 76% are classified as active. Exercise is medicine. The scientific evidence for the health benefits associated with exercise is overwhelming [4-13]. With exercise, we can not only improve mental health [14,15], hypertension [16] and insulin sensitivity [17], but also prevent type II diabetes [17] and contribute significantly to weight management [18]. We should therefore become more physically active as a society. Furthermore, we should create opportunities to include the 24% who don’t currently count as active.
It’s also encouraging that 71% of the population pay attention to their diet. However, men still have some catching up to do here. Nutrition has an enormous influence on our health and our health span [19]. The way we eat has a significant influence on our body mass and composition. Highly processed foods lead to an excessive calorie intake and significantly increase body mass [20]. Despite 71% of the population paying attention to their diet, 43% are overweight. There’s a need for further education and knowledge transfer about the influence of nutrition on our health – and, above all, what it means to eat healthily.
Men also have some improving to do in terms of alcohol and tobacco consumption compared to women, who drink and smoke less. Compared to the 2017 health survey, smoking is on the decline. In 2017, 27% of the population smoked, compared to 24% in 2022 [3]. On the other hand, alcohol consumption between 2017 and 2022 remains unchanged.
As a society, but also as individuals, we need to understand that we’re in control of how we look after our health. We can influence our health in a positive way and choose how we want to grow old. This is possible with simple means. The decisive factors are exercise [4], diet [19], sleep [21] and social interaction [22]. Most of them are virtually free of charge. Exercising outside costs nothing and is medicine for the body and mind.
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Molecular and Muscular Biologist. Researcher at ETH Zurich. Strength athlete.
