The analysis classified risk factors in seven types and put “physical inactivity” as the biggest factor for health risk. (image: Kobizmedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – A study suggested the biggest threat to Koreans’ health is laziness and insufficient or too much sleep rather than excessive drinking and smoking or lack of exercise, as generally assumed.
Park So-hyun, research staff with the Graduate School of Public Heath, Seoul National University, said this in her paper “Analysis on Koreans’ Health Risk Behavior Using Association Rules” based on the national health and nutrition survey data between 2007 and 2009.
The analysis classified risk factors in seven types and put “physical inactivity” as the biggest factor for health risk. As many as 74.6 percent in 14,833 adults who responded to the survey said they were physically inactive.
A person who is physically active was defined in the study as one doing mild exercise for at least 30 minutes at a time for more than five times a week or doing strenuous exercise for more than 20 minutes at a time for more than three times a week.
The second most harmful factor to health was sleeping too little or too much. The ratio of those who said they sleep an average of fewer than 7 hours or more than 8 hours was 49.1 percent in total.
The third to seventh most damaging habits to health were body weight out of normal range (36.6%), smoking (20.2%), breakfast skipping (15.6%), excessive drinking (7.6%), and frequent snacking (6.8%).
Don’t be a couch potato! (image: Korea Bizwire)
According to the survey, almost seven out of ten Koreans (69.8%) practice more than two of the risk factors at the same time. The ratio of those respondents who answered they do none of these was only 5.0 percent.
As for awareness on health risk signals, women were more sensitive. As many as 24.7 percent of women respondents said their health from the subjective point of view is not very good while that for men stopped short of 16.3 percent.
The most common disease both men and women said they are diagnosed was cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension, angina, and cardiac infarction (28.7% for men and 22.7% for women).
The health risk factors were mutually reinforcing, the study said. For example, 55.14 percent of women who are physically inactive and do smoking suffered from sleep deprivation or excessive sleep.
And 66.84 percent of men who drink immoderately and skip breakfast meals turned out to be smokers.
By Sean Chung (schung10@koreabizwire.com)
