Gyeongnam Residents' Smoking Rate, Stress, and Depression Exceed National Average

Walking Practice Rate, Healthy Lifestyle Practice Rate, and Awareness Rate of Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Levels Show Improvement

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] A health survey conducted on residents of Gyeongnam Province revealed that the current smoking rate, stress perception rate, and depression experience rate are showing an increasing trend.

Gyeongsangnam-do announced the main results of the '2020 Community Health Survey' on the 2nd.

The Community Health Survey is a regional health statistics survey conducted annually from August to October targeting adults aged 19 and older. Last year, the survey was conducted on 18,000 people in the Gyeongnam area (230,000 nationwide).

Improved indicators included the quit attempt rate among current smokers, monthly drinking rate, overall high-risk drinking rate, high-risk drinking rate among annual drinkers, walking practice rate, healthy lifestyle practice rate, blood sugar level awareness rate, and annual unmet medical needs rate, totaling 21 indicators.

Deteriorated indicators included the current smoking rate, stress perception rate, and depression experience rate.

The current smoking rate was 19.2%, and the male current smoking rate was 36.0%, each increasing by 0.3%P and 0.6%P compared to the previous year. However, these rates were 0.3%P and 0.6%P lower than the national average, respectively. The quit attempt rate among current smokers was 52.1%, which was 5.5%P higher than the previous year.

The walking practice rate was 40.8%, and the healthy lifestyle practice rate was 29.8%, each increasing by 5.2%P and 4.8%P compared to the previous year. The practice rate of moderate or higher physical activity was 26.5%, the highest among regions nationwide.

On the other hand, the monthly drinking rate in the province showed a decreasing trend from 63.5% in 2018 to 57.3% in 2020, but it was still higher than the national average.

The depression experience rate was 6.4% among Gyeongnam residents, exceeding the national average rate of 5.7%.

Also, the stress perception rate was 26.4% among Gyeongnam residents, slightly higher than the national average of 26.2%.

Shin Jong-woo, Director of Welfare and Health Bureau of Gyeongnam Province, said, "Based on the survey results, we plan to actively promote health promotion policies and projects tailored to the conditions of each city and county to improve the health of residents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.