- Regardless of which crisis strikes us, health will be decisive for which groups it hits hardest, says Maria Vejdal, operations manager Welfare and public health in Region Sörmland.
According to her, Sörmland's population has long had problems with public health and the challenges have been greater than in other parts of the country.
Large overweight and high alcohol consumption
For example, Sörmland stands out regarding the overweight that has been noted in the county already among four-year-olds.
Alcohol consumption also stands out.
17 percent of Sörmland men have stated that they have a risky habit.
The national average is 10 percent.
For women, the same statistic is 11 percent in Sörmland and the national average is 5 percent.
- It can also be mentioned on the basis of the pandemic that Sörmland has a larger proportion of people older than the national average and a high socio-economic weight.
This means that we have a higher degree of underlying diseases, which contributes to a lower resistance in the individual if you suffer from covid-19, says Maria Vejdal.
According to the region, another contributing factor to why Sörmlanders are particularly hard hit by covid-19 may be that the pandemic came to the county early, when the care staff did not yet have enough knowledge about the new virus.