Today’s secondary and university students prefer sweets over alcohol and cigarettes. Half of the students consume sweets daily or often, while only seven percent never eat them. In contrast, only one percent of students drink alcohol daily, and fifteen percent drink it often. One third of students never or almost never drink. Seven percent of students smoke daily or often, and another eight percent occasionally. This emerged from a survey of nearly a thousand students conducted in May 2022 by GTS Alive, the company that, among other things, issues and manages ISIC student cards.
„The survey focused on students’ eating habits and overall lifestyle related to health. We also asked about eating disorders. Unfortunately, it turned out that a full seventeen percent of students have experienced or are experiencing anorexia or bulimia. Half of them know someone around them who is struggling with these problems. Added to this is the fact that nearly a third of students weigh themselves daily or frequently,“ Radek Schich, director of GTS Alive, outlined some of the survey results.
„It is also interesting that every twelfth student reports being a vegetarian or vegan. Among the most common reasons mentioned are that they do not like the taste of meat, they dislike the meat industry, they want to protect the environment, or the animals themselves,“ adds Radek Schich.
The survey also focused on fast food consumption. One tenth of students visit fast food outlets often, while three-fifths go occasionally. Their main motivations are speed, saving time, and enjoying the taste of fast food. The environment of fast food places, however, is hardly a draw for any of them. More than a quarter of students resist fast food and practically never go there.
Students apparently were not much influenced by former President Miloš Zeman’s negative views on eating vegetables. Unlike him, 85 percent of students eat vegetables often or even daily. They consume fruit slightly less often. Three-quarters of students generally state that it is important for them to eat healthily. More than half exercise daily or often, and only eight percent find sports unfamiliar.
Surprisingly, almost half of the students practically never go to the school canteen or cafeteria. However, nearly three-quarters of students have breakfast daily or often, and only ten percent skip it altogether. Lunch is clearly the main meal of the day for students. The vast majority of high school and university students eat three to five times a day, though one in fifteen students eats only twice a day.
Today’s students also manage cooking quite well. More than half cook daily or often. Only one tenth never cook. Students are also uncompromising on the question of whether men and women should know how to cook: 89 percent say men should, and even 92 percent say women should.
For more than two-fifths of students, it is important when buying or consuming food whether the product was made or grown in the Czech Republic. Labels like Bio or Fair Trade matter less to them, relevant to only about a quarter of students.
Regarding national cuisines, Czech students like Italian cuisine the most by far. Czech cuisine ranks second. Among their favorite dishes, students often mention various types of pasta prepared in many ways, salads, sushi, lasagna, or pizza, but also svíčková (marinated beef), schnitzels, halušky (potato dumplings), or fried cheese. Various Asian dishes are also mentioned fairly often. However, some students cannot enjoy any food they want: the survey showed that seventeen percent suffer from various food allergies.
An anonymous online survey was completed for GTS Alive by 983 ISIC student card holders from across the Czech Republic. About half of them attend secondary school, and half attend university.
On the topic of anorexia, highlighted in the survey, GTS Alive also focused on it in one of their podcasts: it features two students who have personally struggled with anorexia. https://www.isic.cz/clanek/tahak/152022/
Notes for editors:
The company GTS Alive s.r.o. issues and manages student cards ISIC and pupil cards ISIC Školák (ISIC Scholar), teacher cards ITIC, and occasionally other cards in the Czech Republic. The company was established in August 2000. Its predecessor in the Czech Republic was GTS International. GTS Alive s.r.o. is part of the international group GTS Alive Group, headquartered in Prague, with branches in seventeen countries across four continents.
Through the chip identification system ISIC PORT, GTS Alive also provides a number of primary and secondary schools with access security to their buildings and an electronic attendance system. The company also mediates travel or accident insurance for students, among other services.
For more information contact:
- Jan Šimral, media representative of GTS Alive
- Phone: +420 737 944 370
- E-mail: info@jansimral.com
