Hiking very popular

50% of Austrians consider themselves to be sporty

Hiking is the most popular activity among Austrians.

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Half of Austrians consider themselves to be sporty. In a recent survey, 41 percent rated themselves as "fairly" sporty and seven percent as "very sporty". Conversely, however, the remaining half turned out to be unathletic.

Hiking, mountaineering and climbing came in first place for sporting activities with 38%. Cycling and mountain biking followed in second place with 35 percent, closely followed by swimming with 34 percent. Whereby "swimming" means more or less "spending time in the water". "These are not all competitive swimmers," says study author Alexander Zeh from the IPSOS Institute, which conducted the survey with 1,000 participants on behalf of Helvetia Insurance.

The majority do sport two to four times a week
Of those who considered themselves sporty, 50 percent did sport two to four times a week and 20 percent once a week. Another 20 percent were active five or more times a week.

Winter disciplines on the mountain such as skiing or snowboarding were mentioned by 17 percent. "This means that Austrians also fulfill the widespread cliché. In the land of mountains, they are also popular for sporting recreation - at all times of the year," Zeh continues. No regular sporting activity was practiced by 16 percent of those surveyed.

Children love their bikes
The results were different for children: Riding a bike was in first place here (18 percent), followed by swimming (17 percent) and playing soccer (14 percent).

Safety is finally playing a greater role
Safety awareness in sport is now widespread. "Almost two thirds take precautions every time or very often to avoid accidents - be it with protective equipment such as helmets or safety devices," explained the author of the study. The accident figures for Austria show just how important this protective equipment is. At least 160,000 sports accidents that require hospital treatment occur every year. "The group of young men and men who are 'young at heart' are particularly prone to taking risks. The cause of accidents here is overconfidence and often a lack of physical fitness," says KFV Director Christian Schimanofsky.

The group of young and "young at heart" men is particularly risk-averse.

KFV-Direktor Christian Schimanofsky

At the presentation on Tuesday, Andreas Gruber, Chief Officer Property-Casualty at Helvetia, pointed out that 43% of those surveyed assumed that their health insurance would cover the consequential costs of sports accidents. "However, this only covers acute medical care. All long-term consequences and all costs other than medical treatment in hospital or at the GP are not automatically included," says Gruber.