Work-related physical activity among adults in Germany

Abstract

In GEDA 2014/2015-EHIS the prevalence of work-related physical activity was estimated based on respondents’ self-reported data. 47.5% of women and 47.2% of men mostly sit or stand during work. The highest proportion of people who mostly sit or stand during work is found among 18- to 29-year-old women (55.5%) and men aged 30 to 44 (50.2%). A significantly higher proportion of men (14.8%) than women (3.2%) have jobs involving mostly heavy manual labour. For both genders, the higher a person’s level of education, the more likely it is that physical activity during work is limited to sitting or standing. The results highlight great potential to promote physical activity.

Keywords

• physical inactivity
• work
• sitting
• adults
• health monitoring