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Living Conditions Surveys (ULF/SILC) 2018

Exercising at home is most common among older women

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2019-04-11 9.30

Seven percent of persons 16 years and older, only exercise at home. Exercising at home is most common among older women. Among women aged 85 years and older, 18 percent only exercise at home. The group that only exercised at home the least were those aged 16–24 years, among whom this share was four percent.

Seven out of ten persons aged 16 year and older, exercise or practice sports at least once a week, either outdoors or indoors. Exercising outdoors is more common than exercising indoors. The age group that exercises the most are 16–24 year olds. The groups with the largest share of people who exercises at least once a week are those with tertiary educational attainment, city dwellers and younger indviduals. Among those aged 16–24 years, 85 percent exercise at least once a week. Beyond this age and up until retirement, about seven out of ten exercise at least once a week. In the older age groups, the frequency of exercising decreases. Among those aged 85 years and older, 45 percent exercise at least once a week.

In 2018, a question was introduced for the first time in the living conditions survey on where their indoor exercise took place: whether it took place in an indoor facility or at home. Most exercising took place in an indoor facility, where 44 percent had exercised at least once in the last 12 months. In comparison, seven percent only exercised at home at least once. Older women, in particular, exercised in their homes. Among women aged 85 years and older, 18 percent only exercised at home at least once, compared with eight percent among all women aged 16–84.

Exercising indoors most common in cities

City dwellers exercise indoors to a greater extent than people living in smaller towns and in sparsely populated areas. Among city dwellers, 50 percent exercise indoors at least once a week, compared with 37 percent among those living in smaller towns. However, there are no differences with regard to the extent of exercising outdoors, where the share is about 60 percent in urban areas, towns, as well as in sparsely populated areas.

Percentage of people aged 16 and older, who have exercised outdoors and indoors at least once a week, by municipality grouping (according to SKL 2017). 2018. Percent

Source: Statistics Sweden, Living Conditions Surveys

There are major differences in exercising depending on educational attainment. Among those who at the most have attained compulsory education, 63 percent exercise indoors or outdoors at least once a week. Among persons with a secondary education, the corresponding share is 71 percent, and among those with a tertiary education the share is 80 percent.

There are also differences between persons with a Swedish background and those with a foreign background; women in the latter group exercise to a lesser extent. Among women with a foreign background 60 percent exercise at least once a week. Among women with a Swedish background, 78 percent exercise at least once a week.

Percentage of men and women aged 16 and older who have exercised outdoors or indoors at least once a week, by background. 2018. Percent

Source: Statistics Sweden, Living Conditions Surveys

Other results from the 2018 ULF/SILC

  • The share of persons living in a dwelling with more than one person per bedroom (overcrowding according to norm 3) has increased from 15 percent to more than 17 percent in the period 2008–2018. Among foreign born persons, 38 percent lived in cramped housing conditions in 2018.
  • About one out of five persons aged 16 and older do not have a cash margin of SEK 12 000 for unexpected expenses. Among single persons with children, 49 percent do not have a cash margin, while among foreign born persons, 45 percent do not have SEK 12 000 for unexpected expenses.
  • 41 percent of men and 35 percent of women generally join discussions and state their oponions when conversations turn political.
  • Among both men and women aged 16–24, 88 percent consider that they are in good or very good health. Among men and women aged 75–84, 63 percent consider that they are in good or very good health.
  • Just over one out of five employees works in shifts or on a schedule in which working hours are scheduled during different times of the day. Shift work is more common among young people than among old people.
  • 23 percent of men and 25 percent of women aged 16 and older neither have access to a holiday residence nor have gone on a holiday during the past 12 months. Among single women without children, this share is 33 percent, compared to 20 percent among cohabiting women with children.
  • Six out of ten men and women are out in nature at least once a month. Excursions in nature are more common among young women than among young men. The extent of excursions increases with age until a few years after retirement. Thereafter it decreases rapidly.

Statistics Sweden publishes this information together with other results from the (ULF/SILC) 2018 Survey on Living Conditions on Housing, Economy and material assets, Health, Employment, Leisure and Civic activities. In addition, statistics on foreign born persons by selected country of birth groups are presented.

Next publishing will be

2019-05-24 at 9:30.

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