6 ms·

I wonder if the frequency of going to the Sauna was tied to the frequency of going to gym to workout? Here in Seattle that is basically the only place you can g

I wonder if the frequency of going to the Sauna was tied to the frequency of going to gym to workout? Here in Seattle that is basically the only place you can go to find a sauna.

ddeck 10y ago
The study was in Finland, where the sauna to population ratio is around 1:2. Also, the study claims to have adjusted for resting heart rate, which is a reasonable proxy for cardiovascular fitness: In analysis adjusted for age, alcohol consumption, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, Type 2 diabetes, previous myocardial infarction, resting heart rate and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, compared with men with only 1 sauna bathing session per week, the HR for dementia was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.57–1.06) for 2–3 sauna bathing sessions per week and 0.34 (95% CI: 0.16–0.71) for 4–7 sauna bathing sessions per week. The corresponding HRs for Alzheimer's disease were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.53–1.20) and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.14–0.90). http://m.ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/12/07/ageing.afw212.abstract http://m.ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/12/07/...
sitkack 10y ago
You can also go the swimming pool, and no one will force you to swim (Queen Anne, Medgar Evers, Greenlake).
fsloth 10y ago
There is a sauna in nearly every house in Finland, and if not, then municipal swimming halls offer an affordable alternative which everyone can afford. No need to join it with heavy exercise. Also, going to a sauna does not signal a socioeconomic status.
- pbhjpbhj 10y ago
  Is there no charge for municipal facilities? It's amazing if Finland has solved poverty to the level that every household can afford to set aside the space for a sauna and costs of running it. In the UK heat poverty is a widespread problem due to the costs of heating fuels. Presumably saunas are being run from geothermal sources to make it cheap enough?? I'm assuming saunas are cupboard sized, is that accurate or are all these homes dedicating a full room of space?
  - dharma1 10y ago
    The prevalence of saunas in Finland is mainly because it has been a part of the Finnish way of life for thousands of years, not an exotic luxury in the way it might be perceived in some other countries. Municipal facilities (swimming halls with saunas etc) are charged, probably about 4 euros per visit, with discounts for students and elderly. The saunas people have in their homes these days are typically electric. Electricity prices are roughly the same, perhaps a bit less than UK - an hour of sauna with 4kw stove would probably cost around 0.5 euros in electricity. Some apartment blocks have shared saunas you can book for free, some have small saunas in each apartment. In detached houses you typically get a bit larger saunas. In general access to saunas is widely available for everyone regardless of socioeconomic status, and there is less economic inequality in general compared to the UK. Heating is a separate topic but I'll reply briefly - majority of housing in Finland is heated with district heating, rather than individual gas boilers in each house, like in the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating#Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating#Finland As a result, heating tends to be cheaper for consumers compared to the UK. Also, Finnish housing tends to be much better insulated than housing in the UK (because of colder winters). Outside cities, where population is sparse, people heat their houses with electricity/wood/oil/geothermal - with many new builds now opting for geothermal.
    - ptaipale 10y ago
      Just a note about district heating: it's not majority of all housing (market share somewhere around 45 %), but it is majority of new housing (around 60 %). See http://energia.fi/files/799/Lu_Kostama_Mikkeli.pdf http://energia.fi/files/799/Lu_Kostama_Mikkeli.pdf slide 10. And saunas are heated with electricity in towns, although a few old public facilities still run on wood stoves, as well as private saunas of those who like the "pure" feeling (such as myself).
    - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
      Thanks for a complete and interesting response.
  - vidarh 10y ago
    The UK and Finland have very similar GDP per capita, but the UK is far more right wing than the Nordic countries have traditionally been, and as a result have a far less well developed benefits system and far larger salary differences. It's not that the Nordic countries have no poverty, but certainly the proportion of people who are absolutely destitute is much, lower. Couple that with the higher housing costs associated with far higher population density (16 per km^2 in Finland vs. 255 per km^2 in the UK) and it seems less weird.
kaitai 10y ago
Even in apartment buildings in Finland, each apartment is assigned sauna hours in the building's sauna. Sauna is truly a standard part of basic hygiene in Finland for most people. Living in a house/apartment without a sauna would truly be like living in a house/apartment with only a bathtub and no shower in the US. Sauna for many people is part of the evening bath/shower routine, not connected with workouts or other activities.
carnivalclown 10y ago
> Here in Seattle that is basically the only place you can go to find a sauna. Since this crappy cold weather hit I've found myself going to the gym nonstop just to dip in the jacuzzi... I don't know why most apartments in the PNW seem to not have one, maybe people up here don't like to swim as much as people in warmer climates?

I wonder if the frequency of going to the Sauna was tied to the frequency of going to gym to workout? Here in Seattle that is basically the only place you can go to find a sauna.

ddeck 10y ago

The study was in Finland, where the sauna to population ratio is around 1:2. Also, the study claims to have adjusted for resting heart rate, which is a reasonable proxy for cardiovascular fitness: In analysis adjusted for age, alcohol consumption, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, Type 2 diabetes, previous myocardial infarction, resting heart rate and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, compared with men with only 1 sauna bathing session per week, the HR for dementia was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.57–1.06) for 2–3 sauna bathing sessions per week and 0.34 (95% CI: 0.16–0.71) for 4–7 sauna bathing sessions per week. The corresponding HRs for Alzheimer's disease were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.53–1.20) and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.14–0.90). http://m.ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/12/07/ageing.afw212.abstract http://m.ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/12/07/...

sitkack 10y ago

You can also go the swimming pool, and no one will force you to swim (Queen Anne, Medgar Evers, Greenlake).

fsloth 10y ago

There is a sauna in nearly every house in Finland, and if not, then municipal swimming halls offer an affordable alternative which everyone can afford. No need to join it with heavy exercise. Also, going to a sauna does not signal a socioeconomic status.

pbhjpbhj 10y ago
Is there no charge for municipal facilities? It's amazing if Finland has solved poverty to the level that every household can afford to set aside the space for a sauna and costs of running it. In the UK heat poverty is a widespread problem due to the costs of heating fuels. Presumably saunas are being run from geothermal sources to make it cheap enough?? I'm assuming saunas are cupboard sized, is that accurate or are all these homes dedicating a full room of space?
- dharma1 10y ago
  The prevalence of saunas in Finland is mainly because it has been a part of the Finnish way of life for thousands of years, not an exotic luxury in the way it might be perceived in some other countries. Municipal facilities (swimming halls with saunas etc) are charged, probably about 4 euros per visit, with discounts for students and elderly. The saunas people have in their homes these days are typically electric. Electricity prices are roughly the same, perhaps a bit less than UK - an hour of sauna with 4kw stove would probably cost around 0.5 euros in electricity. Some apartment blocks have shared saunas you can book for free, some have small saunas in each apartment. In detached houses you typically get a bit larger saunas. In general access to saunas is widely available for everyone regardless of socioeconomic status, and there is less economic inequality in general compared to the UK. Heating is a separate topic but I'll reply briefly - majority of housing in Finland is heated with district heating, rather than individual gas boilers in each house, like in the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating#Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating#Finland As a result, heating tends to be cheaper for consumers compared to the UK. Also, Finnish housing tends to be much better insulated than housing in the UK (because of colder winters). Outside cities, where population is sparse, people heat their houses with electricity/wood/oil/geothermal - with many new builds now opting for geothermal.
  - ptaipale 10y ago
    Just a note about district heating: it's not majority of all housing (market share somewhere around 45 %), but it is majority of new housing (around 60 %). See http://energia.fi/files/799/Lu_Kostama_Mikkeli.pdf http://energia.fi/files/799/Lu_Kostama_Mikkeli.pdf slide 10. And saunas are heated with electricity in towns, although a few old public facilities still run on wood stoves, as well as private saunas of those who like the "pure" feeling (such as myself).
  - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
    Thanks for a complete and interesting response.
- vidarh 10y ago
  The UK and Finland have very similar GDP per capita, but the UK is far more right wing than the Nordic countries have traditionally been, and as a result have a far less well developed benefits system and far larger salary differences. It's not that the Nordic countries have no poverty, but certainly the proportion of people who are absolutely destitute is much, lower. Couple that with the higher housing costs associated with far higher population density (16 per km^2 in Finland vs. 255 per km^2 in the UK) and it seems less weird.

kaitai 10y ago

Even in apartment buildings in Finland, each apartment is assigned sauna hours in the building's sauna. Sauna is truly a standard part of basic hygiene in Finland for most people. Living in a house/apartment without a sauna would truly be like living in a house/apartment with only a bathtub and no shower in the US. Sauna for many people is part of the evening bath/shower routine, not connected with workouts or other activities.

carnivalclown 10y ago

> Here in Seattle that is basically the only place you can go to find a sauna. Since this crappy cold weather hit I've found myself going to the gym nonstop just to dip in the jacuzzi... I don't know why most apartments in the PNW seem to not have one, maybe people up here don't like to swim as much as people in warmer climates?