We all know how important healthy lifestyle is. Unfortunately, according to the report “Bridging East – West health Gap”, Poles are among the least physically active societies in Europe. Only 3 to 10 % of Poles (depending on age group) show sufficient physical activity.

We need more active lifestyle and sport! Not only does stationary and lazy lifestyle mean poor physical condition but it also is the cause of many medical problems: respiratory and cardiovascular systems diseases, obesity, diabetes and low natural resistance – the physicians say.

The data of the Polish Ministry of Health is also not very optimistic. It shows that the proper level of physical activity is present only at 70 % of children from 6-7 years of age, 20 – 30 % of youth between 11 and 15 years of age and only 10 % of adults. In his/her free time, the average Pole usually watches TV (e.g. around 40% of 11- 15 year olds spend more then 4 hours a day in front of TV). As a result of the above, 70% of Poles between 45 and 64 years of age suffers from obesity and being overweight and hypertension is a problem of around 12 million people.

Unfortunately, a lot of people in Poland do not have any awareness whatsoever of their laziness and the obvious fact that more physical activity is very much needed. The report of Ipsos entitled: “Facts and myths. Nutrition and health of Poles in international context” states that, among all nations researched, Poles are the most satisfied with their weight and fitness and their children. As many as 44 % of Poles see their fitness level as satisfying. The same report shows that the average Pole spends his/her free time in front of the TV (66%) and just 20 % of people ride a bike and 7% goes to the gym, do the jogging or other sports. In comparison, Swedes, considered to be a healthy and fit nation, are much less satisfied with their fitness (only 28% declared to be happy about it). Among other nations the Poles are the one that is the least interested in knowledge on healthy living and diets, they also present the lowest trust in their physicians. Just 2 % of Poles see themselves as obese, while the BMI (Body Mass Index) shows that in reality as many as 14 % of Poles suffer from obesity. The situation is slowly but gradually changing, however. Especially in towns and cities people become more aware of healthy life style.

They take care of their diets, practice sports, keep fit and quit bad habits such as smoking for example. We become more conscious of the fact that the way we eat and spend our free time is directly related with the quality of our living. Some of us already know that the old Polish proverbial saying “in the healthy body, the healthy soul” (w zdrowym ciele zdrowy duch) does need to be taken literally. We learn how to avoid stress, how to be kind and demanding at the same time to our bodies. We learn about healthy, ecological food, about superiority of riding a bike over spending timeless periods in traffic jams, about spending our holidays close to nature, about techniques that help relieving stress such as yoga or tai-chi for example, about the importance of the ingredients of our daily diet, avoiding bubbled drinks, fast-foods and snacks, about harmfulness of smoking and alcohol abuse etc. etc.

So everything is improving and I really notice a lot of changes while visiting Poland each year. I definitely see more and more people riding bikes, camping, jogging and really taking the healthy lifestyle seriously.

 

Here are some health related Polish words for you:

 

Respiration –oddychanie      

To breathe– oddychać          

Lung– płuco            

Oxygen– tlen               

Carbon Dioxide-dwutlenek węgla

Glucose– glukoza       

Heart – serce                                   

Circulation- krążenie

Blood- krew                

Muscle – mięsień                        

Heart beat- uderzenie serca

Pulse– tętno                                 

Artery– tętnica              

Vein– żyła  

Running – bieganie

Stress-  stres

Gym – siłownia

Ecological – ekologiczne

Diet – dieta

Active – aktywny (woman: aktywna, child: aktywne)

Nature – natura

Sport – sport

Health – zdrowie

Obesity – ociężałość

Healthy lifestyle – zdrowy tryb życia

Exercise-ćwiczenie 

Smoking – palenie  

Cigarettes – papierosy

Disease – choroba

Drugs- lekarstwa/narkotyki

And being healthy does not always mean –go to the gym. I’m a mom and I know how much energy it takes to raise a child. I also love sports, so I try to do everything with my little daughter: run, bike, play in the water or just go for a nice walk. We are so busy in our lives now, that not always there is a time and money to use the gym or buy the healthiest organic food. Sometimes you actually enjoy every day things you have to do more and you may even lose more calories that way!

Try your best and stay happy and healthy!

 

Do następnego razu! (Till next time…)