High school students drink many energy drinks daily and sleep less than seven hours, reports Fréttablaðið.
Older adults rate their mental health as poor, young people drink less alcohol but don’t get enough sleep, and the city’s residents have good access to green spaces near their homes—these findings are presented in the Reykjavík City’s Public Health Guide 2022.
“The indicators that are highlighted are different every year, but when choosing them, the focus is on the influencing factors of health and well-being, which include opportunities for health promotion and prevention,” says Harpa Þorsteinsdóttir, project manager for public health at the City of Reykjavík.
According to Harpa, it is worrying how much of the population feels their mental and physical health is bad. The percentage of people who experience loneliness has also grown—from 11% in 2020 to 14.1% today. 14.3% primary school students say they are lonely compared to 12.5% in 2020.
A total of 52.1% of the city’s residents are happy compared to 57.7% in 2020.
“We need to act on this. It is important for those of us who work on health promotion and prevention to take a good look at how certain aspects are developing, and the indicators give us a basic idea of how society is developing based on the data that has been collected,” says Harpa.
The percentage of secondary school students who drink energy drinks on a daily basis is alarming and has increased from 44.9% in 2020 to 53.4%. Over 45.5% of high school students sleep seven hours or less. In 2020, this was 42.5%.
On a positive note, the percentage of those who have gotten drunk in the last 30 days has decreased to 5.7%, compared to 8% in 2020.
Reykjavík City’s Public Health Guide is published annually since 2019. See the full guide here.
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