site.btaOnly 21 Per Cent of Bulgarian Adults Have Enough Physical Activity - Expert

Only 21 Per Cent of Bulgarian  Adults Have Enough Physical Activity - Expert

Sofia, October 5 (BTA) - Obese Bulgarians total 280,000, Prof. Svetoslav Hadzhiev of the Bulgarian Association for the Study of Obesity and Related Diseases told a BTA-hosted news conference Monday. He was quoting data of the World Health Organization. In his words, only 21 per cent of Bulgarian adults have enough physical activity - the so-called 10,000 steps a day recommended for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases.

Bulgarian children top the ranking for hours spent in front of the TV and the computer: around 25.7 h per week, Hadziev said. In the last ten years, the percentage of obese and overweight children has increased from 5 to 15 per cent. Bulgaria is at the bottom of the EU for consumption of milk and dairy products, which is also problematic, he commented.

The problems of nutrition-related diseases can be solved only with the joint efforts of specialists, media, producers of food, drinks and medicinal products, NGOs and governmental organizations, the expert said.

Laska Nenova, founder of the BG Be Active association, thinks that there is no such thing as unhealthy food - there are unhealthy quantities and lack of physical activity. According to studies quoted by Nenova, the lack of physical activity causes more deaths than smoking.

A survey conducted by BG Be Active shows that 77 per cent of Bulgarians are not physically active. The remaining 23 per cent are usually young people in big cities. Sitting for over 5.5 hours is a factor that causes many diseases, Nenova said.