The consumption of alcoholic products affects 57.7 percent of the population (71 out of every 100 men and 44 out of every 100 women), according to the second National Survey of Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases, the ABC Color daily published today.

The sample was based on a methodology of the World Health Organization on the prevalence of risk factors of non-communicable diseases, the director of the National Statistics Institute (INE), Iván Ojeda, told the newspaper.

The results revealed estimates on the consumption of alcohol or tobacco, fruits and vegetables, diabetes, hypertension or obesity, on a sample of people between 18 and 69 years of age, residing in 5,100 urban and rural homes, the source added.

Regarding smoking, the research revealed that 12.5 percent of the population smokes cigarettes or other products derived from tobacco, while only 3.9 percent consumes five or more portions of fruits or vegetables per day.

Another problem revealed by the survey is a sedentary lifestyle, since 36 percent of the population does “insufficient” physical exercie, with women being the least active gender, while 10 percent receive treatment for diabetes, most of them also women.

Hypertension is estimated at 38 percent (41 out of every 100 men and 36 out of every 100 women), especially in urban areas, while 32 percent suffer from obesity and 36.9 percent are overweight. The households surveyed were randomly selected from a proportion of 60 percent urban and 40 percent in rural areas.

The INE director expressed to ABC Color his concern about the social impact of the disclosure of results such as these, “which attract attention and the institution is criticized, but -he insisted- I claim that it is based on a deeply studied methodology”.

jav/mgt/apb