site.btaOnly 6% of Bulgarians Lead Healthy Lifestyle, 2% Exercise Daily - Poll

Only 6% of Bulgarians lead a healthy lifestyle, and only 2% exercise every day, said  Dimitar Ganev from the Trend Research Centre at aBTA press conference, citing data from a nationally representative survey commissioned by the Health Metrics company and implemented by Trend. The survey was conducted between May 12-18, 2025, among 1,001 adult citizens using the face-to-face method. One percent of the sample corresponds to 55,000 people.

One of the main obstacles to leading a healthy lifestyle is financial constraints, with 48% of those surveyed indicating that a healthy lifestyle is too expensive, and 41% saying that they have difficulty accessing quality food. Next in line are the lack of motivation and the lack of reliable information. Younger people, with higher education, with greater opportunities, living in Sofia and in large regional cities, more often lead a healthy lifestyle, said Dimitar Ganev.

Some 36% of those surveyed consume fruits and vegetables every day. When asked how often they consume processed food, 9% answered that it is every day, 23% - several times a week. Young people living in Sofia consume fast food much more often than others.

Only 2% of the participants in the study exercise every day, 13% exercise several times a week. The majority of Bulgarians, 55%, do not exercise at all. Nearly 60% of those who exercise said that they do it for health. People who do not exercise indicated that they do not do it because of their age, lack of time and lack of motivation.

When asked if they follow a diet, 77% said they did not follow a diet, and 3% answered that they regularly use products, supplements or drugs for weight loss. Supplements or drugs for weight loss are used occasionally by 15% of those surveyed.

Few people follow dietary regimens recommended by doctors, and they mainly get information about nutrition from friends or online, said Veselka Duleva, head of the Food and Nutrition Department at the Public Health and Health Risk Directorate at the National Centre for Public Health and Analysis. Based on a study that the Centre is conducting with the World Health Organization from 2008 to 2023, in which over 16 thousand first-graders in Bulgaria were surveyed using the face-to-face method with children, parents and teachers, Bulgaria has changed the situation in which its children grow up. In 2008, children from families with high socio-economic status had a higher relative share of obesity, but in 2023 this is no longer the case and obesity is found among families with low socio-economic status. According to her, the surprise from the data is that children from rural areas have a more unfavorable anthropometric status and dietary pattern. Salt, sugar, processed meats are a risk nutritional factor, Prof. Duleva also pointed out and drew attention to the fact that the introduction of health education in schools for children in grades 1-12 has not yet been successful.

With a healthy diet, serious diseases can be avoided, said Prof. Tsvetalina Tankova, Head of the Department of Endocrinology at the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University in Sofia. Obesity is a disease and is a result of lifestyle, she added. The risk factors are a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet, low physical activity, added sugars, alcohol, smoking, air pollution. She explained that there are more than one billion obese people worldwide. Bulgaria ranks sixth in Europe in terms of obesity among adults and fifth in terms of obesity among children, said Prof. Tankova. Obesity leads to hundreds of diseases, the doctor noted, adding that it is necessary to improve the health habits of Bulgarians and raise awareness among society.