The objectives of the Santé publique France Health Barometer are to:

• Monitor the health behaviors of the adult population residing in France and their determinants, with particular attention to modifiable behaviors and analyses of social and territorial inequalities, notably by producing estimates at the regional level;

• Document public health issues or guide policy decisions, particularly by surveying the population’s knowledge and opinions to inform the implementation or evaluation of prevention initiatives or public policies;

• To expand knowledge on the health status of the population residing in France, for indicators not covered by other surveys or surveillance systems.

For over 30 years, these repeated surveys have thus made it possible to track various public health issues. Some editions have included questions on diet, physical activity, and sedentary behavior.

Public Health France Barometer 2024

Results of the 2024 Public Health France Barometer / Physical Activity

• Four in ten adults (40.2%) report regularly engaging in physical activity (PA) during their leisure time. This applies more to men, retirees, and the most affluent socioeconomic groups. This activity is predominantly unstructured, informal, and takes place outside of organized settings.

• One-third of adults aged 18–79 rely exclusively on motorized modes of transportation for short daily trips. Among employed individuals, 75% use only passive (motorized) transportation to get to work.

• Only one in five workers (21%) reports having the opportunity to engage in physical activity at their workplace. When such activities are offered, 60% of workers say they take advantage of them.

• More than half of adults (57%) are aware of the full PA recommendation—“At least 30 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous PA”—eight in ten adults know the recommended duration, and nearly seven in ten know the recommended intensity.

• The full PA recommendation is better known among people from the most advantaged socioeconomic groups.

Results of the 2024 Santé publique France Health Barometer / Sedentary Behavior

First, it is important to note that a sedentary lifestyle is distinct from a lack of physical activity. A sedentary lifestyle refers to all situations spent in a sitting or lying position while awake, characterized by low energy expenditure. A sedentary lifestyle and a lack of physical activity are two nearly independent health risk factors that can occur simultaneously and are very difficult to offset. Breaking up sedentary periods, however, has health benefits.

• In 2024, 28% of adults aged 18–79 reported spending more than 7 hours a day sitting. This proportion exceeds 40% among those aged 18–29, the most highly educated individuals, as well as managers and professionals in higher intellectual occupations.

• Students, executives, and people who regularly work remotely are most at risk of high levels of sedentary behavior (sitting for more than 7 hours a day).

• Nearly all adults (98.1%) are aware of the 2024 recommendation to break up prolonged sitting at least every two hours.

• Nine out of 10 adults (88.8%) incorporate this into their behavior by stating that they “stand up at least every two hours” when sitting for long periods.

• Nine out of 10 adults (88.7%) believe it is recommended to do so more often than every two hours; specifically, 36.7% believe it is recommended to do so every 30 minutes—the frequency recommended by ANSES since August 2025—and 35.5% every hour, the frequency beyond which health benefits begin to diminish (ANSES 2025).

Public Health France 2021 Barometer

Results of the 2021 Santé publique France Barometer / Diet

• In mainland France in 2021, 19% of men and 25% of women aged 18 to 85 reported fruit and vegetable consumption in line with the PNNS recommendations.

• Nearly 23% of adults consumed legumes twice a week or more, while 29% of men and 26% of women reported daily consumption of whole-grain starchy foods.

• 18% of men and 12% of women consumed more than one glass of sugary drinks per day.

• Non-compliance with the recommendations, particularly insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables or excessive consumption of sugary drinks, was more common among men than women. Compliance with the recommendations improved with age and educational level, except for the consumption of whole-grain starchy foods.

Deschamps V, Salanave B, Verdot C. National and regional frequencies of food consumption relative to nutritional recommendations for French adults: results of the 2021 Santé publique France Barometers for mainland France and the French overseas departments and regions (DROM). Bull Epidemiol Hebd. 2025;(8):112-23.

Dietary fiber has proven health benefits, but its consumption is severely inadequate in France. Since 2019, following the example of the “5 fruits and vegetables a day” message, two other dietary recommendations have been promoted to the general public to encourage greater consumption of fiber-rich foods (whole grains and legumes). This article presents adults’ awareness of these dietary recommendations, as well as consumption frequencies aligned with these recommendations, which have never been assessed before.

• The recommendation regarding fruits and vegetables was known by 71.0% of individuals, and that regarding legumes by 77.7%, with a higher percentage among women, younger people, and those with higher levels of education (p<0.01).

• The recommendation regarding whole-grain starchy foods was known by 34.7% of individuals, with a higher percentage among women and younger people (p<0.0001).

• Consumption in line with the recommendations applied to just over one in five people for fruits, vegetables, and legumes (22.6% and 22.8%, respectively) and 28.0% for whole-grain starchy foods.

• Consumption for each food group was more frequently in line with the recommendations among those who were aware of the recommendations than among those who were not (p<0.0001).

Delamaire C, Noirot L, Serry AJ, Fassier P. Adults’ awareness of two new recommendations regarding pulses and whole-grain products: results from the 2021 Santé publique France Barometer. 2025;(8):123-33.

Results of the 2021 Santé publique France Barometer / Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior

• In 2021, 73% of men and 59% of women met the physical activity recommendations. The prevalence of meeting the additional recommendations for muscle strengthening was 31% among men and 20% among women.

• Meeting physical activity recommendations was associated with gender, age, educational attainment, and the size of the urban area, as well as employment status for men and household structure for women. Compliance with physical activity recommendations varied by more than 15 percentage points across regions.

• More than one in five adults reported spending more than seven hours a day sitting, and the prevalence of leisure screen time exceeding three hours daily reached 39%. Only the recommendation to break up sedentary periods appeared to be well followed.

• Sedentary behavior was associated with age, educational level, urban area size, household structure, and employment status.

Verdot C, Salanave B, Escalon H, Deschamps V. National and regional prevalence of physical activity and sedentary behavior among adults in France: results from the 2021 Santé publique France Barometer. Bull Épidémiol Hebd. 2024;(12):240-9.

• In 2021, awareness of the PA recommendation was partial: 96.7% of adults cited “at least 30 minutes of PA per day,” but fewer than a quarter cited the correct recommended intensity.

• Overall, 21.6% of adults are aware of the full PA recommendation. An association between awareness and adherence to this recommendation is observed only among women.

• The recommendation to break up sitting time at least every two hours is cited by 93.9% of people and is associated with following it. Three-quarters of adults believe it is recommended to break up sedentary time more often than every two hours.

• Spending more than seven hours sitting per day is associated with the perception of sitting for too long during the day, without perceiving the possibility of reducing this high level of sedentary behavior.

Escalon H, Verdot C, Serry AJ. Knowledge of recommendations on physical activity and sedentary behavior, behaviors, and perceptions: results of the 2021 Santé publique France Barometer. Bull Épidémiol Hebd. 2024;(12):250-8.