Health report In Bavaria you live healthy

Health report Bavaria

In Bavaria you live healthy: Bavaria presents its first health report

(10.11.2010) The Bavarian health minister Markus Söder (CSU) is satisfied with the new health report: people smoke less, move more and have significantly higher life expectancy. However, there are also negative reports: The alcohol consumption and obesity among adolescents has increased significantly.

In Bavaria lives better and healthier
In Bavaria, one lives healthy, at least one could come in view of the positive numbers of the newly presented health report to any other decision. But there are also alarming tendencies that should be taken seriously. On the one hand, a continuous increase in alcohol consumption among adolescents was noted. On the other hand, people are getting fatter and overweight. An increase in mental illness is also to be observed. Because the growing stress in professional life does not stop even in the state of Bavaria. On Wednesday, the Bavarian CSU Minister of Health Markus Söder is still very satisfied when he presented the first health report for Bavaria. Already the Minister rejoiced, as is the peculiar nature of a minister from Bavaria: "In Bavaria lives better and healthier than in the rest of Germany."

More and more adolescents are overweight and drink more alcohol
But in the land of beer and white sausage, negative health figures are also reported. Although the proportion of young people who smoke cigarettes is steadily declining, excessive consumption of alcohol and a marked overweight are developing into an increasing social health problem.

18.5 percent of young people in Bavaria report drinking at least once or five or more alcoholic drinks in a row within the last 30 days. Nationwide comes this risky form of alcohol consumption, the medical profession as well „Binge drinking“ denote, with 20.4 percent a little more common. Teenagers speak for themselves „Binge drinking“ or „binge drinking“, if large amounts of alcohol are consumed within a short time. This drinking behavior is particularly risky in terms of health, as it can quickly lead to alcohol poisoning.

Significant increases in acute alcohol poisoning
The number of young people under the age of 18 who had to be hospitalized for acute alcohol poisoning has increased dramatically within a few years. In Bavaria, there were a total of 5,005 children, adolescents and young adults under the age of 20 in Germany in 2008 25 509. Of particular concern: around 4 500 of them were only between 10 and 15 years old, and thus in an age group where the use of alcohol is generally forbidden. In Bavaria, just over 800 adolescents belong to this young group. The organism of children and adolescents is particularly susceptible to harm from alcohol. And the sooner you start consuming alcoholic beverages, the higher the risk of developing addiction later.

On the one hand, it can be observed that the incidence of overweight (obesity) among 12- to 25-year-olds in Bavaria has almost doubled within ten years, from 2.1 percent (1995) to 4.0 percent (2005) Trend, which probably also exists in Germany as a whole. The reason for this increase is probably less exercise, but more rich and unhealthy food. "These are key issues for the future," said Health Minister Söder.

Bayern live the longest
But there are also many positive developments to report. In Bavaria, it seems to live longest. Among other things, the Bavarians have the highest life expectancy in Germany: Newborn boys are today on average 77.4 years, girls even 82.5 years old. Also, the degree of care is with 71000 doctors, 379 hospitals and per capita health expenditure of 3000 euros above the federal trend.

New structure of the health report
New to the design of the health report are the individual divisions. Because, according to Söder, they wanted to look at all the statistics of children, adolescents, adults and seniors separately in order to identify trends and develop strategies. "We now have a database that allows us to develop health strategies for the future," said Söder. In order to get a better grip on the problems in the future, they want to start in Bavaria to start their own preventive campaign for each generation. This should, according to the wish of the minister, save costs in the future.

Focus on depression and men's health
The health of men should also be more in focus. After all, men's health has been neglected in Germany over the last few years, even though men are on average more frequently affected by illnesses than women. Likewise a special attention should be given to mental disorders such as depression or „Burnout“ receive. "Ten percent of sick leave meanwhile goes back to problems like burnout or depression," said Söder. While 47 percent of all women in Bavaria take precautionary measures, only 17 percent of men practice this. "Men are less health-conscious, and we have to make it clear that it's not a sign of weakness to go to the doctor." This should also apply to seniors who should be better informed about cancer screening. Because the third most common cause of death is for people over 65 falls, the Ministry of Health intends, among other things, to raise awareness about accidents and risks.

In view of the difficult budget situation, it remains to be seen to what extent the Bavarian Ministry of Health intends to raise more money for prevention and education. But for Minister Söder this does not seem to be a problem. "Addiction counseling and prevention work remain unabridged, we redirect funds at most on the new priorities," said Söder. (Sb)

Also read:
Men's Health Report: Men often depressed
Burn out usually affects the committed
More and more women are alcohol dependent

Picture credits: Andreas Hermsdorf