Haredim exercise more.
Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch
Israeli Haredim exercise more regularly than rest of population
New poll shows that 58% of ultra-Orthodox exercise weekly, while previous data shows that 34.2% of the general population is so disciplined.
A new poll carried out by the Haredi research institute Seker K'Halacha shows that, despite preconceptions to the contrary, ultra-Orthodox Israelis exercise more regularly than the rest of the general population.
The survey, published in advance of an economic conference hosted by the Hebrew-language Haredi daily newspaper Hamodia, shows that 58% of Haredim in the country regularly exercise every week, while data from the Ministry of Sport shows that 34.2% of the general population exercises with that frequency.
According to the poll, ultra-Orthodox women work out more than Haredi men, and residents of Bnei Barak engage in physical activity more than residents of any other Haredi city in the country. Eighty percent of the Haredim questioned said that they maintain a healthy diet.
(Photo Zohar Shahar)
The survey interviewed 425 Haredi persons in more than 40 locations in Israel in accordance with the distribution to different sects in the ultra-Orthodox sector. Thirty-five percent said that they exercise twice a week, and 23% said that they exercise at least thrice weekly.
Regarding the 80% who make sure to eat a healthy diet, the data show that women were more scrupulous than men and that Hassidic Haredim took more pains to eat a healthy diet than Lithuanian, Sephardic or other sects of ultra-Orthodoxy.
Previous data from the Ministry of Sport showed that the general population lags far behind the Haredi sector and that the Israeli average is beneath the European mean. There, surveys have showed that 65% of the population exercise weekly. Northern Europeans are more active than their Mediterranean counterparts.
