The pandemic has significantly affected the health of Singaporeans, with fewer of them engaging in physical activity and the country seeing a drop in the number of people going for chronic disease and recommended cancer screening, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH), which has just released the latest National Population Health Survey.
A major concern, especially for an aging population, is that fewer residents met the recommended level of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensive physical activity a week. This figure fell from about 80% in 2019 to about 71% in 2021.
Leisure-time regular exercise was lowest among older adults aged 60 to 74 (24%) and highest among young adults aged 18 to 29 (40.5%) in 2021.
On mental health, the survey found that while more are willing to seek help from healthcare professionals to cope with stress (58.3% in 2021 versus 47.8% in 2019). Those aged 60 to 74 were the least willing to do so, while those aged 30 to 39 were the most willing to do so.
This highlights the need for Singaporeans to take care of their own health, particularly against the backdrop of an aging population, said the Ministry of Health (MOH), which released the latest National Population Health Survey.
This is significant in the case of screening for chronic diseases, where participation fell from about 66% in 2019 to about 59% in 2021, but the percentage of those who self-reported chronic diseases were comparable to pre-pandemic days.
About 7% of Singapore residents surveyed reported having diabetes, 14% reported having high blood cholesterol, and 16% reported having high blood pressure. MOH said these figures may not reflect the actual prevalence.
The results come as Singapore prepares to launch its major preventive health strategy known as Healthier SG in the second half of 2023. Screening for diabetes, high blood pressure, and high blood cholesterol, as well as for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers, will be fully funded under Healthier SG.
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