Health practices in U.S. slipping — study

Press, 30 August 1986, Page 33

Health practices in U.S. slipping — study

WASHINGTON In spite of a decline in smoking and more public emphasis on health, Americans are exercising less, gaining weight, sleeping less and drinking more than in the past, a new Government report says.

In general, between 1977 and 1983 there appeared to have been an increase in unfavourable health practices, said the study by the National Centre for Health Statistics.

The agency compared findings on seven health practices between the two years, and found that in 1983, Americans were less physically active, more likely to be overweight, slept less, drank more and were a bit more likely not to eat breakfast.

On the positive side, there was a 10 per cent decline in the rate of smoking and a slight decrease in the rate of snacking. Declines in smoking prevalence between 1977 and 1983 signified a pub-lic-health accomplishment, the centre said inits study of trends in smoking, alcohol consumption and other health practices. Among people aged 20 and over, only 32.4 per cent of Americans re--ported being smokers in 1983, while 45.2 per cent said they had never smoked and 22.5 per cent had quit, 'the centre found.

Men were more likely to smoke than women, the study found. But more men also had quit, since their smoking rate was 87 per cent of that found in 1977, and women’s rate was 92 per cent. Declines in smoking were reported by all age groups except people aged 65 to 74, where the rate was identical to that of 1977.

The study found that low-income people those making less than $7OOO a year — slightly increased their smoking, while all other Income groups reported declines. On the other hand, exercise, weight, sleep and alcohol continue to be problems. One-third of Americans said they did not drink alcohol, 9.9 per cent said they consumed two drinks or more dally. About 37 per cent reported that on at least one occasion during the previous year when they had five or more drinks in one day. That was up from about 30 per cent in 1977, an increase the centre said was difficult to interpret.

Men and women differed markedly in drinking habits, with men four times more likely to be heavy drinkers and twice as likely to have consumed five or more drinks on any one day, the study said.

Younger people were more likely to drink, and they tended to drink more heavily than older people, it noted.

In light, of current knowledge about the harmful health and social consequences of heavy drinking, the findings of more prevalent and heavier alcohol consumption among the young should be a matter of considerable public health concern, said the authors of the reports, Charlotte Schoenborn, of the statistics centre and Bernice Cohen of Johns Hopkins University. The survey found that 16 per cent of Americans were 30 per. cent or more over their desirable body weight, based on weight charts developed for lifeinsurance purposes. About 14.5 per cent of Americans were 30 per cent over their desirable

weight in 1977. Young people were more likely to be close to their desirable weight than older ones, the study found, and women were more likely to be at. the extremes — either underweight or overweight - - than men.

The study also found an increase in the number of people who said they slept less than six hours dally. In 1983, 24.3 per cent were in this category, up from about 21.6 per cent in 1977.

Blacks tended to be at the extremes, with 34 per cent saying they slept less than six hours, compared with 23 percent of whites. And 13 per cent of blacks said they slept nine hours or more, compared with 10 per cent of whites. Sleeping habits were also related to income and education, the study found, with more low-in-come people sleeping less than six hours and the length of sleep increasing with,years of education. There was a slight change over the years in the frequency of eating breakfast. In 1983, some 27.1 per cent said they did not eat breakfast, up from 26 per cent in 1977.

Women were more likely to eat breakfast than men and the frequency of eating breakfast increased with age. About 37 per cent of those surveyed In 1983 said they snacked between meals every day, down from 38 per cent in 1977. Snackers tended to be at the low end of the age scale. Forty per cent of young adults, but only 27 per cent over those over 75 reported they ate between meals.

The report is based on the National Health Interview Survey, which questioned 21,450 people age 20 and over about health practices..