Published on Wednesday, 20 August, 2014 at 10:52

Luxembourg residents and people living in the north of the continent are the most physically active in Europe, a Eurobarometer survey suggests.

The poll, carried out by TNS Opinion Social network in the 28 Member States, showed that more than half of Luxembourg residents surveyed (54 percent) exercised or played sport at least once a week.

The figures were even higher in Sweden (70 percent), Denmark (68 percent), Finland (66 percent and the Netherlands (58 percent).

Southern states tended to be more sedentary with Bulgaria recording the highest proportion of respondents who never exercise or play sport at 78 percent.

In Luxembourg, women tended to be the least active, however, with 53 percent of respondents saying they never or rarely exercised, compared with 38 percent of men.

Of respondents who did exercise, the majority said they did so to improve their health (65 percent), to get fitter (49 percent) or relax (39 percent).

Gyms appear not to be the main location for doing exercise, the survey suggested. The majority of sporty residents (36 percent) got their exercise outdoors, in parks for example. Over a third (35 percent) said they exercised at home and only 14 percent said they visited a health or fitness centre.

While access to sports opportunities did not appear to be a problem in Luxembourg, with 86 percent of respondents in agreement, lack of time can prove a major barrier.

Half of all those who responded blamed their lack of physical activity on time constraints. In addition, nearly a quarter (23 percent) said they were simply not motivated enough.

The survey polled nearly 28,000 European residents from different social and demographic groups on behalf of the Directorate-General for Education and Culture (“Sport” Unit).

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