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Health-related behaviour by age
Health-related behaviour is known to be strongly related to age (Deeks et al. 2009). Research shows that there is a steady decline in both objective and subjective health status with advancing age. Do we also find this relationship with age in the health-related behaviours specified in our study? And to what extent is this age differentiation linked to educational differences?
Alcohol and age differences
Figure 10.1 breaks down regular alcohol consumption by age and highest completed education. We find a fairly consistent picture. University graduates in all age groups most often drink alcohol regularly, while those with a low educational level are more moderate. These educational differences appear to be more marked among older respondents. In other words, the number of regular drinkers increases with rising age to a greater extent among university graduates (from 30.4% to 65.0%) than among those with a lower educational level (from 24.3% to 40.9%).
Drinking alcohol is thus a risky behaviour which most closely fits the lifestyle of those with the highest educational level in the older age category. It is evidently more socially accepted in these circles to drink alcohol regularly. These groups moreover also more often have the necessary financial resources.
Figure 10.1Regular alcohol consumption by educational level and age
| Leeftijd | low | higher secondary | higher professional (HBO) | university (WO) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-35 years | 24,3 | 21,7 | 23,2 | 30,4 |
| 36-45 years | 32,8 | 35,5 | 42,7 | 53,9 |
| 46-55 years | 25,2 | 43,2 | 41,8 | 45,3 |
| 56-70 years | 40,9 | 58,8 | 62,8 | 65 |
Source:European Social Survey Netherlands, Round 7, 2014-2015 (N=1,415)
Age and education in relation to health-related behaviour
Overweight
In general, the chance of being overweight increases with age (CBS StatLine 2018). This phenomenon is illustrated in figure 10.2. The average BMI among 56-70-year-olds is substantially higher than among 25-35-year-olds. Interestingly, there is a clear education gap in overweight among young people, while the differences in overweight are smaller among older age groups. Among 25-35-year-olds, only those with a low educational level are overweight on average (BMI = 25.7); university graduates have a relatively healthy weight, with an average BMI of 23.1.
These educational differences steadily reduce over a person’s life course; in the oldest age category, people in all educational groups are overweight on average, and the education gap has shrunk from 2.6 to 1.2 BMI points.
Figure 10.2Average BMI by education and age
| BMI | low | higher secondary | higher professional (HBO) | university (WO) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-35 years | 25,7 | 24,9 | 23,8 | 23,1 |
| 36-45 years | 27,2 | 25,8 | 25,1 | 24,7 |
| 46-55 years | 27,1 | 26,1 | 25,8 | 24,9 |
| 56-70 years | 26,8 | 26,2 | 25,4 | 25,6 |
aThe dotted line represents the threshold for being overweight (BMI > 25).
Source:European Social Survey Netherlands, Round 7, 2014-2015 (N=1,415)
Eating vegetables
Figure 10.3 shows that eating vegetables daily with meals is fairly common in all groups. Despite this, we once again find differences by educational level, especially among the young. Young people with a low educational level (aged 25-35 years), in particular, appear to eat vegetables less frequently (67.0%); while older persons with a low educational level (56-70 years) do so somewhat more often (73.3%). Whether this is related to growing up in an era when eating vegetables was still very common, the rise of ready meals which are consumed especially by young people, or the fact that eating together as a family is more common among older people, is something that requires further research.
Figure 10.3Daily vegetable consumption by educational level and age
| leeftijd | low | higher secondary | higher professional (HBO) | university (WO) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-35 years | 67 | 71,4 | 81,8 | 88 |
| 56-70 years | 73,3 | 81,2 | 86,8 | 85,8 |
Source:European Social Survey Netherlands, Round 7, 2014-2015 (N=1,415)
Physical activity
Figure 10.4, finally, shows that intensive physical activity is least popular among the lowest-educated in all age groups. The figure also shows that the education gap in physical activity is greatest among 25-35-year-olds, and considerably smaller in older age groups. It may be that differences in available leisure time are slightly smaller in this older age category, or that the need to engage in physical activity increases with age. Given that risk factors accumulate over a person’s life course, this is a point that warrants attention: if young people with a low educational level in particular are failing to undertake sufficient physical activity, this can have consequences in the longer term.
Figure 10.4Physical activity by educational level and age
| leeftijd | low | higher secondary | higher professional (HBO) | university (WO) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-35 years | 67,9 | 78 | 82,3 | 93,3 |
| 36-45 years | 70,8 | 82,6 | 79,6 | 92,5 |
| 46-55 years | 69,1 | 84,7 | 88,3 | 95,1 |
| 56-70 years | 76,5 | 88,3 | 86,1 | 88 |
Source:European Social Survey Netherlands, Round 7, 2014-2015 (N=1,415)
References
Deeks, A., C. Lombard, J. Michelmore & H. Teede (2009). The effects of gender and age on health related behaviors. In: BMC Public Health, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 213.
CBS Statline (2018). Lengte en gewicht van personen, ondergewicht en overgewicht; vanaf 1981. Accessible at: https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/81565NED/table?ts=1529397175143.
Cite this card
André, S., R. Meuleman and G. Kraaykamp (2018). Health-related behaviour by age. In: (Un)healthy lifestyles: Education as a dividing line. Retrieved [datum vandaag] from https://digital.scp.nl/lifestyles/health-related-behaviour-by-age.