September 8, 2003
Report & Analysis · Data · Other Poll Releases
Seventy-eight percent of Georgians assess their own health as either excellent (30 percent) or good (48 percent), according to the most recent Peach State Poll. However, wealthier Georgians report a far more optimistic assessment of their health than do the less affluent.
The most recent Peach State Poll-a statewide quarterly survey of public opinion conducted by the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government-finds that 93 percent of Georgians with a household income greater than $100 thousand in 2002, the last tax year, rate their health as either excellent (55 percent) or good (38 percent). By contrast, only 52 percent of Georgians with an annual household income less than $20 thousand in 2002 report their health to be either excellent (7 percent) or good (45 percent).
In the same poll, 66 percent of Georgians said that they exercise for 30 minutes or more at least a few times a week-with 29 percent saying that they exercise this much every day. Given recent reports of high levels of obesity among people in the southeastern states, these numbers are encouraging.
Other survey results:
* The top reason Georgians give for exercising is to control their weight; 81 percent list weight control as a major reason, and an additional 12 percent list it as a minor reason. Among the other major reasons chosen by a majority of Georgians are reducing stress (75 percent), preventing disease (73 percent), and looking good (60 percent).
* Women are more likely than men to cite looking good as a major reason for exercising (65 percent compared to 55 percent) but are less likely to claim that they exercise every day (23 percent compared to 34 percent).
* Ninety-three percent of the general public in Georgia say they have had their blood pressure checked in the past year, but only 69 percent have had their cholesterol level checked.
* Fifty-seven percent of the public has a beverage with caffeine every day, but only 4 percent say they have an alcoholic beverage on a daily basis. In fact, 43 percent of Georgia's adults say they never drink alcoholic beverages.
It should be noted that for certain topics related to socially desirable behavior such as eating well and exercising, respondents sometimes tell telephone interviewers what they believe they should be doing as opposed to what they are actually doing. It is therefore possible that some Georgians may have overestimated their behaviors in this poll.
These data are taken from a Peach State Poll survey conducted between August 8 and August 17, 2003. The poll included 804 telephone interviews of randomly selected adults in Georgia. For a sample of this size, the margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level is +/- 3.5 percent.
