DKV-Report 2025: Health check for Germany – Time spent sitting at new record level

How healthy are lifestyles in Germany? This is the eighth time that German health insurer DKV (Deutsche Krankenversicherung AG), the German Sport University Cologne (Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln) and the University of Würzburg have studied the health behaviour of Germans in a representative survey. Since 2010, the DKV-Report has regularly analysed the German population’s physical activity, diet, smoking, alcohol consumption and stress behaviour – and since 2014 also their sitting behaviour.

An alarming record: Time spent sitting in Germany

The current DKV-Report 2025 reveals dramatic developments: The average time spent sitting has increased again from 598 (2023) to 613 minutes per day. This means that, on working days, Germans spend an average of more than ten hours seated – almost two hours more than they did 10 years ago. Only 30 percent of people who spend a lot of time sitting down manage to offset the long hours spent sitting through adequate physical activity. Because of their sitting and movement behaviour, 37 percent of respondents have an increased mortality risk. Prof. Ingo Froböse of the German Sport University Cologne stresses: “This dangerous trend must be stopped urgently. We need a social change that takes us away from sitting and enables a daily routine in which movement is allowed, supported and even rewarded.”

All-round healthy lifestyle? No such luck

At the same time, only 2 percent of the German population have an all-round healthy lifestyle. Here, women have the better results across all benchmarks: 3 percent of them meet all the criteria for an all-round healthy lifestyle, whereas only 1 percent of men do. The results for the individual benchmarks of “physical activity”, “diet”, “smoking/vaping”, “abstinence from alcohol” and “stress perception” are mixed: It is pleasing to see that 68 percent of respondents reach the benchmark for physical activity. When it comes to a healthy diet, however, only slightly more than a third (34 percent) meet the requirements. Stress and how to manage it successfully proves to be particularly problematic, as only one in five of respondents achieves the “stress perception” benchmark. Frauke Fiegl, Chairman of the Board of Management of DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung AG, urges: “A healthy lifestyle must be imparted early on and intensively promoted among children and adults alike – and across all population groups. A balanced diet, more physical activity and less screen time are fundamental prerequisites for an all-round healthy lifestyle.”

Endurance and muscles: Both need training

While around 68 percent meet the “physical activity” benchmark (endurance-based physical activity), only 34 percent of respondents meet the World Health Organisation’s recommendation for “muscle activity” (at least twice a week). Overall, only 32 percent of respondents achieve the combined physical activity recommendations for endurance and muscle activity. Everyday physical activity and structured endurance and muscle training are among the most effective strategies against many chronic lifestyle diseases, such as type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental illness. “Together with regular physical activity, the lifelong training of muscles is necessary for healthy ageing. We should no longer see it as a voluntary addition to endurance training but as a preventive compulsory task”, comments Prof. Ingo Froböse.

Wellbeing under pressure

At times of crisis, people’s subjective wellbeing becomes a key issue. Only slightly more than half of respondents achieve a positive feel-good value (59 percent), with men and older people doing better: While slightly more than a third of male respondents report reduced subjective wellbeing (37 percent), this is true of almost half of all female respondents (46 percent). For people over the age of 66, the value is more positive than average, with 74 percent reporting increased subjective wellbeing. In contrast, the proportion is lowest among 30 to 45 year-olds (49 percent). The results of the DKV-Report show that anyone who regularly gets around on foot or by bike and is also physically active in their spare time reports higher subjective wellbeing.

Digital health literacy and prevention as the key to healthy behaviour

Digital health literacy describes the ability to access digital health information and incorporate it into health-related decisions. Overall, only 35 percent of respondents have excellent digital health literacy. What’s noticeable here is that the younger the respondents, the better the digital health literacy. But this is also a question of education: Only 29 percent of respondents with a secondary school certificate have excellent digital health literacy; for university graduates this proportion rises to 43 percent.

Nevertheless, many people do manage to find health information quickly on the internet, but they have problems assessing its reliability: 58 percent of respondents are uncertain about whether they can trust digital health sources.

“It’s vital to promote digital health literacy and prevention in a targeted way. At the same time, potential obstacles in these two areas must be systematically reduced. Only in this way can each individual exploit the full potential for healthy living”, stresses Frauke Fiegl.

Besides digital health literacy, the DKV-Report 2025 also highlights the uptake of prevention programmes: While vaccinations are certainly recognised and taken up by 79 percent, only 21 percent of respondents make use of structured prevention programmes such as those for physical activity, diet, stress management or stopping smoking. The main incentive for precautionary and preventive measures is the perceived health benefit, but there are other obstacles to wider participation, including financial ones. Targeted awareness-raising on the topic, as well as financial incentives, could help overcome these barriers.

About the DKV-Report

This year is the eighth time that the Institute of Movement Therapy and Movement-oriented Prevention and Rehabilitation at the German Sport University Cologne, in conjunction with the Institute for Sport Sciences at the University of Würzburg, has produced the DKV-Report on behalf of DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung AG. Over the period from 11 February to 17 March 2025, the opinion research institute HEUTE UND MORGEN GmbH conducted a representative survey throughout Germany, asking over 2,800 people about their lifestyles using structured and computer-assisted telephone and online interviews.
 

This year’s DKV-Report (German version) and further materials are available for download on the following page: