Maintaining a proper body weight has a positive influence on health. Excessive weight or underweight occurring at a young age can result in serious health issues in adulthood. In Poland, excessive body weight among adolescents (in the form of overweight or obesity) is less common than in other age groups. However, surveys conducted in 2014 and 2019¹ show that the percentage of young people struggling with overweight increased at a much faster rate (from 13% to 20% in the 15-19 age group and from 22% to 29% in the 20-24 age group) than in other age groups. Obesity is also much less common among adolescents than in any other age groups; nevertheless, the percentage of young people suffering from obesity has increased the most in the last decade. Overweight is more common among boys and young men, while obesity is more often an issue among girls and young women.

The trends relating to underweight are different. Underweight is most common among younger people. In 2019, the percentage of adolescents (aged 15-19) struggling with underweight was nearly 10% (almost 15% in 2014). Among those aged 20-24, the problem increased from almost 7% to over 8% throughout the 2014-2019 period. Underweight is more common among girls and young women than boys and young men.

1) The European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) is conducted every 6 years. Its next edition will be carried out in 2025, and the results are to be published in June 2027 in a variety of publications, including ‘Health status of population in Poland in 2025’.

One of the reasons behind young people’s problems with maintaining a proper body weight is their increasingly poor eating habits (e.g. declining fruit and vegetable consumption). The results of the EHIS survey show that in Poland, the percentage of young people (aged 15-24) eating fruit at least once a day decreased from 55% to 51% between 2014 and 2019, and those eating vegetables from 51% to 48%. The situation is different in the EU, where the average consumption of fruit and vegetables (at least once a day) by young people increased from 43% to 45% and from 39% to 44%, respectively. Despite the unfavourable trends concerning young Poles, on average they eat fruit and vegetables more readily than their European counterparts. Poland ranks 5th among EU countries with the highest percentage of young people consuming fruit at least once a day, and 7th in terms of vegetable consumption. Girls tend to eat more fruit and vegetables than boys, and this gap was larger in 2019 than in 2014.

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Physical activity plays an important role in every person’s life, regardless of age. In the case of the youngest, movement is one of the factors that determines proper development and reduces the risk of many diseases occurring in adulthood. In Poland, children in the 10-14 age group most often participate in sports activities and physical recreation (as part of extracurricular/non-compulsory activities). In 2021, almost 70% of children this age indicated that they participated in this type of activity (occasionally, regularly/frequently) during the year. Participation in physical activities among children aged 5-9 was at a similar level (68%), while 65% of adolescents aged 15-19 participated in sports or physical recreation. In the years preceding the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, children were more physically active than in 2021.

The motives for engaging in sports and physical recreation have not changed significantly in the past several years. Regardless of age, pleasure and entertainment are the most common reasons for doing sports and physical recreation. Such motivation was declared by 82% of children aged 5-9, 77% of those aged 10-14 and 69% of adolescents aged 15-19. Other common motives for practicing sports among the youngest include the desire to stay healthy and in shape, and to meet with friends. On the other hand, the main reasons for children and young people to avoid sports and physical recreation (regardless of age) are invariably: lack of interest, willingness or preference for passive leisure activities, and the lack of activity provider or suitable facilities close to place of residence. In 2021, the lack of interest, willingness or preference for passive leisure activities was indicated by 23% of children aged 5-9, 30% of children aged 10-14 and 39% of children aged 15-19, while the lack of activity provider or suitable facilities close to place of residence was indicated by 26%, 14% and 17% of the respondents, respectively.

The number of children and young people becoming members of sports clubs in the junior section is on the rise. Between 2010 and 2022, this number nearly tripled (from 302,000 to 841,000), and the share of juniors in the total of sports club members increased from 59% to 69%. In the years 2010-2022, the disciplines with the largest share of juniors in the total number of sports club members changed. In 2022, the largest share of juniors was in such sports as football, golf, rugby and equestrian, while in 2010 it was figure skating, acrobatics and the biathlon. The sports preferences of boys and girls also changed during this period. Although football is still very popular among boys, their participation in this sport has slightly decreased. At the same time, boys tend to be visibly more interested in karate, swimming and volleyball. Girls still prefer volleyball, but their interest in swimming, football and karate has grown.

Physical fitness ratings of the youngest groups of people have increased. In 2021, between 93% and 98% of children and adolescents rated their physical fitness as very good or good, compared to 92%-95% in 2012.

The results of the 2023 daily time use survey show that the time spent by young Poles (i.e. the 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24 age groups) on performing various daily activities did not change significantly in relation to the results of the survey conducted a decade before. They spent about half a day (11-12 hours) on satisfying their personal care (i.e. sleeping, eating, getting dressed, personal hygiene, doctor’s appointments and using hair and beauty services). What changed, however, was the time shared between duties and leisure. Children and adolescents allocated a greater share of time to duties; compared to 2013, this increase ranged from 19 minutes (among adolescents aged 15-19) to 34 minutes (among children aged 10-14). Children and adolescents’ duties consisted mainly of studying, on which they spent more time in 2023 than a decade earlier. The time spent by them on leisure shortened, to the largest extent among children aged 10-14 (by 43 minutes), and to the smallest among young people aged 20-24 (by 20 minutes). As regards leisure, children and adolescents (10-14- and 15-19-year olds) spent most of their free time in 2023 on hobbies, using the computer, Internet and mass media, devoting on average just over 1.5 hours a day to each of these activities. Young people aged 20-24 spent most time on using mass media (over 1.5 hours a day) and on social life, entertainment and culture (almost 1.5 hours a day). In 2023, children (aged 10-14) spent more time participating in sports and recreation (42 minutes) than adolescents aged 15-19 (36 minutes) and 20-24-year-olds (25 minutes), which did not change significantly compared to 2013.

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In the years 2010-2023, the percentage of young Poles (in the 16-24 age group) rating their health as very good or good fluctuated between 91% and 94% (while the EU average was between 91% and 93%). The percentage of young people declaring their health as fair (neither good nor bad) increased from 5% in 2010 to 6% in 2023, and the percentage of individuals assessing their health as bad remained at the same level (about 2%).

As in the EU on average, the health self-assessment of young women is noticeably different from this of young men. The latter assessed their health as very good and good more often than young women. This difference was widening in the subsequent years and in 2023, 90% of young women and 94% of young men rated their health as very good or good (in 2010, this percentage was 93% for both groups). In 2023, 8% of young women and 4% of young men rated their health as fair, and about 2% each as bad or very bad.

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Among the growing number of suicides in Poland, a clear intensification of this phenomenon is observed in the group of young people. The total number of both completed and non-fatal suicide increased nearly threefold in 2010-2023 (from 5,500 to 15,100), and almost fivefold (from 800 to 3,900) among people under the age of 24. The share of young people among those who attempt to take their lives is growing. Out of the total number of completed and non-fatal suicide in 2023, one in four involved a person under the age of 24 (26%); in 2010, it was one in seven (15%). In 2023, compared to 2010, the number of suicide attempts increased among the youngest children (aged 7-12) from 2 to 78, among children aged 13-18 from 148 to 1,916, and among adolescents aged 19-24 from 217 to 1,432.

The share of completed suicide is declining: in 2023, among people below the age of 24, 12 out of a 100 suicide attempts ended in death, while in 2010, it was 56. The largest number of completed suicide is observed among young people aged 19-24, although the share of this group in the total number of children and adolescents under 24 who die by suicide decreased (from 73% in 2010 to 68% in 2023). However, the share of children aged 13-18 in completed suicide increased (from 26% to 31%), as did the share of even younger children, aged 7-12 (from 1% to 2%). The situation is similar for non-fatal suicide. For many years, young people in the 19-24 age group were most prone to attempt suicide, but the trend changed and from 2021, children in the 13-18 age group have the largest share in non-fatal suicide (56% in 2023 compared to 40% in 2010). As regards children aged 7-12, this percentage increased from 1% to 2%.

In Poland, suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people in the 15-19 and 20-24 age groups¹ . Between 2011 and 2022, an average of about 20% of deaths that occurred in each of these age groups resulted from people taking their own lives. The leading cause of death is accidents; in 2011-2022, out of all the deaths occurring in the 15-19 and 20-24 age groups, 40% and 37%, respectively, resulted from accidents. The third most common cause of death are neoplasms; in each of the aforementioned age groups, 8% of all deaths is due to neoplasms. The causes of death among children under 15 are different; most deaths are due to perinatal problems and congenital malformations (35% of all deaths on average in 2011-2022) and chromosomal aberrations (31%). As among adolescents, neoplasms are the third most common cause of death (accounting for an average of 7% of all deaths).

In terms of the number of completed suicide among young people (aged 15-19 and 20-24), Poland has for years recorded higher rates compared to the EU average. For the last decade, Poland has been among the top ten countries with the highest number of suicides per 100,000 population in the above-mentioned age groups. The infamous statistics relating to completed suicide of Polish youth aged 15-19 have worsened (Poland ranks fourth in the EU in terms of the highest number of suicides recorded in this age group).

1) The age groups vary due to the use of different data sources: suicide statistics from the National Police Headquarters (which presents the following age groups: 7–12 years, 13–18 years, and 19–24 years), and cause of death data from Statistics Poland (which presents the following age groups: under 15 years, 15–19 years, and 20–24 years).

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