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allude to the fact that approximately 6% to 7% of the<br />

populations (regardless of age) could be taking anti-depressants<br />

every day. The great increase in the usage<br />

of anti-depressants leaves the impression that life in<br />

Finland and Sweden has become depressive for at least<br />

twice as many people.<br />

Although, in regard to the groups of medication<br />

shown in Figure 1.4.3, the medicalisation of the Estonian<br />

population lags far behind that of the Nordic countries,<br />

we are already at the same level, for instance, in<br />

regard to the frequency of the usage of medication for<br />

the treatment of heart disease and diabetes. In this case,<br />

what do we make of the fact that, in comparison to Finland<br />

and Sweden, three to four times fewer tranquilisers<br />

and anti-depressants are taken in Estonia? Is there any<br />

reason to believe that we have three times fewer cases<br />

of anxiety and mood disturbances, or are two-thirds of<br />

the sufferers in Estonia left untreated? Or, is life for the<br />

people in the Nordic countries not as free of worry and<br />

stress as we would like to think?<br />

The increase in those receiving treatment in<br />

Estonia and the greater intensity of medication usage<br />

(Volmer 2012) means that, from the perspective of<br />

each person taking medication, the period of treatment<br />

increases and the years of disability-free living<br />

decreases. In Estonia too, the readiness of the medical<br />

system to treat and intervene has increased, as has the<br />

readiness of the population to be treated, and to admit<br />

that it needs help.<br />

1.4.4<br />

Health of schoolchildren<br />

Figures 1.4.4 to 1.4.7 describe the interlinked parameters<br />

chosen from the health indicators for schoolchildren in<br />

Estonia and the neighbouring countries – obesity and<br />

physical activity. The initial reasons for obesity and corpulence<br />

are an imbalance in the assimilating and expending<br />

of calories, which accompanies increasingly frequent<br />

sedentary lifestyles.<br />

The data originates from a survey conducted<br />

every four years, titled Health Behaviour of Schoolaged<br />

Children (HBSC, see http://www.hbsc.org/),<br />

which Estonian joined in 1993. Today, 41 countries<br />

participate in the survey, including the U.S., Canada,<br />

Russia, Turkey and the separate areas of Great Britain,<br />

in addition to all the European Union Member States.<br />

Standard questionnaires are answered by 11-, 13- and<br />

15-year-old schoolchildren. Obesity is calculated based<br />

on a body mass index (weight is divided by height<br />

squared), and adjusted for age and gender. The children<br />

that participate daily in at least 60 minutes of<br />

moderate or active physical activity are considered to<br />

be physically active.<br />

The graphs present data on 13-year-olds, but the<br />

same trends are characteristic of both the 11- and 15-yearolds.<br />

Whereas, in almost all of the states, the older children<br />

are less physically active than the younger ones, and<br />

there are more overweight children among them. In all<br />

of the age groups, obesity in boys appears twice as often<br />

as in girls, although, there are twice as many physically<br />

active boys as there are girls.<br />

Figure 1.4.4<br />

Percentage of obese girls among 13-year-old girls<br />

2002 2006 2010<br />

Percentage<br />

Estonia<br />

Latvia<br />

Lithuania<br />

Finland<br />

Sweden<br />

HBSC<br />

average<br />

Percentage<br />

2002 2006 2010<br />

Percentage<br />

Estonia<br />

Latvia<br />

Lithuania<br />

Finland<br />

Sweden<br />

HBSC<br />

average<br />

Percentage<br />

0 5 10 15 20<br />

0 5 10 15 20<br />

Figure 1.4.5<br />

Percentage of obese boys among 13-year-old boys<br />

0 5 10 15 20<br />

0 5 10 15 20<br />

Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013<br />

45

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