Israelis have a high rate of obesity compared to the rest of the world, don’t exercise enough, and smoke too much were the dismal results of Israel’s fourth national health survey published on Tuesday. The survey, carried out by the Health Ministry’s National Center for Disease Control, was based on phone interviews with 4,135 Israelis aged 21 and over, of whom 2,710 were Jews and 1,425 were Arabs. Over half (56%) of the respondents reported that they are overweight or obese, with the rate higher among Arabs (61.3%) than Jews (54.8%), and the highest rate among Arab men, with almost two-thirds (65.9%) falling into the category of overweight or obese. About two-thirds of the interviewees admitted that they don’t comply with Health Ministry recommendations for exercise, with only 29.8% of the Jews and 26.3% of the Arabs complying with recommendations. One in five Israelis smokes, with the rate among Arabs higher (24.4%) than Jews (19.1%). The highest smoking rate is among Arab men (38.2%), 1.7 times that of Jewish men (22.6%). (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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