Russians say they are leading a healthier lifestyle

Russians claim that they have begun to lead a healthier lifestyle. These are the results of a survey by the Federal Scientific and Clinical Center of the FMBA. Four years ago, 54% of respondents admitted that they had bad habits, but in 2023 only 44% did. The most popular unhealthy addictions are excessive consumption of sweets, overeating, alcohol abuse, smoking and love for energy drinks.

In 2020, the Federal Scientific and Clinical Center of the FMBA surveyed 1,600 men and women aged 18–65 years. Then 54% of them said that they have various bad habits. In 2023, the center repeated the survey, and now only 44% of respondents reported excesses. The list of the most common bad habits in 2023 included: excessive consumption of sweets (36% of respondents), overeating (36%), alcohol abuse (27%), smoking cigarettes (24%), vaping (16%) and hookahs (12%). ), as well as regular consumption of energy drinks (11%). Among young people – citizens under 35 years of age – the most common are smoking vapes and hookahs, as well as the habit of energy drinks, FMBA experts indicate. But representatives of the older generation prefer to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. At the same time, 44% of respondents linked health problems to their bad habits – in 2020 this figure was just under 41%.

In 2023, the VSK insurance house analyzed the statistics of requests for medical care within the framework of VHI, including those related to bad habits. Thus, the number of visits to narcologists within the framework of VHI increased, according to the company, by 20%. 79% of consultations were provided to male patients. Let us recall that earlier “Kommersant” found in the Rosstat collection “Healthcare in Russia-2023” information that in Russia for the first time in ten years there was a slight increase in cases of diagnosis of “alcohol addiction”. From 2010 to 2021, the number of newly diagnosed patients with alcohol dependence decreased by almost half – from 100 thousand to 53 thousand people. However, in 2022, doctors identified 54.2 thousand such citizens. Experts attributed the rollback to a complex of reasons, including the pandemic, socio-economic upheaval and “intensifying geopolitical confrontations.”

The VSK Insurance House adds that patients with bad habits consistently turn to pulmonologists and nutritionists. Mostly men complained about lung problems in 2023. Pulmonologist of the Federal Scientific and Clinical Center of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia Sergei Lozhkin notes that the coronavirus pandemic did not sufficiently motivate Russians to quit smoking (in severe forms, COVID-19 caused problems with the lungs). In 2023, 15% of respondents said they would give up this habit (in 2020 there were 20%). Representatives of the older generation smoke the most: 17 cigarettes a day is the norm for Russians over 50 years of age.

Women hold the lead in the number of visits to nutritionists. The number of such patients is only growing: in 2023 – 71% of appointments (58% in 2022). As Kommersant previously reported, Russian doctors are increasingly prescribing special bariatric surgeries for overweight patients. According to the All-Russian Bariatric Registry, in 2020, 3292 surgical interventions in the stomach and intestines were performed, and in 2023 there were already 8955 – 172% more.

According to VSK, patients suffering due to bad habits are gradually “getting younger.” If in 2022 the average age of a Russian with excess weight problems was 42 years old, then in 2023 it will be 41 years old. The same is true for patients of pulmonologists: their average age has decreased from 48 years to 47 years. In 2023, residents of the capital region and St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Tula, Sverdlovsk, Samara and Chelyabinsk regions most often turned to pulmonologists. Russians aged 43 years and older mostly turn to narcologists. The highest number of appointments with a narcologist was recorded in the Komi Republic, Rostov region, Krasnodar, Perm and Primorsky territories, Tomsk region. Most often, residents of Moscow, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk regions and Tatarstan faced problems with excess weight.

Maxim Burikov, head of the FMBA Center for Bariatric Medicine in Rostov-on-Don, creator of the Slimmer app for obese people, points out that the scale of obesity is “very large.” This, the doctor notes, is confirmed by independent studies: for example, according to Rosstat, the number of obese people has increased by 10% over the past year. “From my own experience and the experience of my colleagues, I can only confirm this information: the number of patients is growing year by year. All the bad habits listed in the surveys contribute to the development of obesity and a number of severe concomitant diseases, including diabetes mellitus and diseases of the cardiovascular system,” comments Mr. Burikov. “I always pay attention to overeating as a common and very dangerous factor that contributes to the development of these diseases.” He emphasizes that prevention is better than cure, and to avoid the development of obesity, he recommends changing “behavioral patterns” regarding food, as well as switching to healthy habits: physical activity, consuming daily water intake, healthy sleep.

Oisana Makhmudova, a therapist at the Doctis telemedicine service, believes that the number of people adhering to a healthy lifestyle is gradually increasing. “The role of medical workers is important in promoting a healthy lifestyle. Because informing about the risks and consequences of bad habits, poor nutrition, and lack of physical activity is an important part of the prevention of many diseases. In particular, cardiovascular problems, diabetes, problems with the gastrointestinal tract, various infections that behave more aggressively with weak immunity,” says Mrs. Makhmudova. “The more doctors talk about this at preventive appointments, the fewer diseases there will be later.” will have to be treated. This will lead to an improvement in the quality of life of patients and a reduction in the burden on doctors.”

Natalia Kostarnova