Switzerland's fabled¹ mountain air may be healthier than anyone thought: nine out of ten people say they feel on top form even as obesity² is on the rise, new statistics showed Friday.

"The majority of the Swiss population thinks it is in good health. 87 percent of people asked said they felt in good or very good health. Only 7 percent said they had a severe health problem six months ago," the Federal Statistics Office said in a statement after a survey of some 19,000 citizens.

But appearances can be (self)-deceptive, as the survey in fact found that more and more Swiss people drink, smoke and are overweight.

Just under a third of all people surveyed were smokers³ (28 percent), with the percentage rising for both young men and women aged⁴ 15-24 -- 37 percent and 31 percent respectively.

When it comes to alcohol, 38 percent of all men and 29 percent of women described themselves as "occasional drinkers" who had a glass one or two times a week.

And just like the rest of Europe, the number of overweight people has been on the rise, with more than half (52 percent) of people in the 65-74 age group having a body mass index of more than 25 kilograms/square metres.

One silver lining⁵ though is a decline in passive smoking after various cantons such as Geneva and Ticino introduced bans on smoking in public places. So if nothing else, the Swiss mountain air will be a little bit clearer after all.

Switzerland is one of the longest-lived countries in the world, with an average age of  84, according to WHO statistics.

Zurich, the norheaster city of  Switzerland  was named as the best place to live in the world, a previous study by the Mercer consultant⁶ firm showed.

 传说中的瑞士山间空气可能比你想象的还要健康。瑞士上周五公布的最新统计数据显示，尽管瑞士的肥胖率呈上升趋势，但有九成民众觉得自己很健康。

瑞士联邦统计局在一份声明中说：“绝大多数瑞士人自认为身体不错。87%的受访者觉得自己健康或者十分健康。仅有7%的人称自己在半年前出现了严重的健康问题。” 该机构共对约1.9万人进行了调查。

但表象不一定靠得住，调查发现，瑞士有越来越多的人酗酒、吸烟及体重超标。

调查显示，受访者中有不到三分之一的人吸烟（28%），但15岁至24岁的年轻男女的吸烟率都呈上升趋势——分别为37%和31%。

38%的受访男性和29%的女性称自己“偶尔喝点酒”，即每周喝酒一至两次，每次喝一杯。

与欧洲其它国家一样，瑞士的肥胖人口也越来越多，在64岁至75岁的人群中，超过一半的人（52%）体重指数超过25。

不过值得庆幸的是，瑞士的被动吸烟人数有所下降，这都要归功于日内瓦和提契诺等几个地区在公共场所实行的“禁烟令”。所以如果只看这一点，瑞士的空气有望变得更加清新。

据世界卫生组织的统计数据，瑞士的平均寿命为84岁，为全世界最长寿的国家之一。

此前美世咨询公司开展的一项研究表明，瑞士东北部城市苏黎世被评为全球最适合居住的城市。