Publication - Statistics

Scottish Health Survey 2018: main report - revised 2020

Published: 21 February 2020
From: Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care
Part of: Health and social care
ISBN: 9781839605550

An amended version of the Scottish Health Survey 2018 main report.

Scottish Health Survey

Table 6.5: Reasons for participating in activity, 2018, by age and sex

Base: Aged 16 and over who took part in any sport / exercise in the past month		2018
Reasons for participating in activity^a		Age							Total
		16-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65-74	75+	Total
		%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Men	To keep fit (not just to lose weight)	77	71	77	66	64	57	51	69
	To lose weight	19	38	33	30	27	15	5	27
	To take children	1	8	20	15	4	10	2	10
	To socialise	32	32	37	30	32	40	39	34
	To train/ take part in competition	34	15	10	14	7	3	8	14
	To improve my performance	35	34	31	20	22	16	15	27
	Just enjoy it	71	63	71	58	65	72	63	66
	To help with injury or disability	6	5	9	8	12	9	8	8
	Part of voluntary work	3	0	2	2	1	2	2	2
	To walk the dog	4	9	14	14	8	11	3	10
	For health reasons/ to improve health	17	35	39	44	39	39	32	35
	For peace and quiet	16	14	15	19	25	19	13	18
	To de-stress, relax and unwind	41	46	46	43	46	31	20	42
	To feel closer to nature	3	8	20	16	21	23	14	14
	Other	2	4	2	3	5	2	7	3
Women	To keep fit (not just to lose weight)	68	62	73	74	67	63	60	68
	To lose weight	33	37	53	31	26	14	15	33
	To take children	2	24	26	13	6	9	12	14
	To socialise	37	28	24	27	27	46	49	31
	To train/ take part in competition	13	11	7	5	3	1	2	7
	To improve my performance	23	21	19	10	11	8	9	16
	Just enjoy it	61	61	53	58	60	67	61	59
	To help with injury or disability	5	7	7	13	13	13	10	9
	Part of voluntary work	2	1	1	1	1	3	0	1
	To walk the dog	9	12	19	11	13	6	9	12
	For health reasons/ to improve health	22	32	37	44	52	37	41	37
	For peace and quiet	7	18	13	17	15	15	7	14
	To de-stress, relax and unwind	36	53	47	58	45	31	28	46
	To feel closer to nature	3	13	13	14	14	19	7	12
	Other	1	2	-	2	-	1	-	1
All adults	To keep fit (not just to lose weight)	73	66	75	70	65	60	55	68
	To lose weight	26	37	43	31	26	15	10	30
	To take children	1	16	23	14	5	10	7	12
	To socialise	35	30	31	28	30	43	44	32
	To train/ take part in competition	23	13	8	9	5	2	5	11
	To improve my performance	29	28	25	15	16	13	12	21
	Just enjoy it	67	62	62	58	62	70	62	63
	To help with injury or disability	6	6	8	11	12	11	9	9
	Part of voluntary work	2	1	1	1	1	3	1	1
	To walk the dog	6	11	17	12	11	9	6	11
	For health reasons/ to improve health	19	33	38	44	45	38	36	36
	For peace and quiet	12	16	14	18	20	17	10	16
	To de-stress, relax and unwind	39	49	47	50	45	31	24	44
	To feel closer to nature	3	11	17	15	18	21	10	13
	Other	1	3	1	3	3	2	3	2
Unweighted bases	Men	69	119	120	146	128	112	56	750
	Women	100	159	152	171	153	100	52	887
	All adults	169	278	272	317	281	212	108	1637
Weighted bases	Men	146	184	153	156	130	84	42	894
	Women	138	174	144	154	128	69	44	851
	All adults	284	358	296	310	258	153	86	1746

a Respondents selected as many reasons as apply

Contact

Email: scottish_health_survey@gov.scot

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Information

Table 6.5: Reasons for participating in activity, 2018, by age and sex

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