A quarter of adults are too inactive, putting health at risk

Insufficient physical activity is one of the leading risk factors for premature death globally, a World Health Organization-led study.

Lack of exercise not improving while other major global health risks are

Thomson Reuters Posted: Sep 05, 2018 12:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: September 5, 2018

Amirah al-Turkistani, a graphic design lecturer, sits at her favourite coffee shop in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2017. Saudi Arabia was one of four countries where more than half of all adults were not physically active enough to protect their health, researchers say. (Reem Baeshen/Reuters)

More than a quarter of the world's adultsor 1.4 billion people take too little exercise, putting themat higher risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes,dementia and cancers, according to a World HealthOrganization-led study.

In 2016, around one in three women and one in four menworldwide were not reaching the recommended levels of physicalactivity to stay healthy at least 150 minutes of moderate, or75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week.

There has been no improvement in global levels of physicalactivity since 2001, according to the study, which was conductedby World Health Organization (WHO) researchers and published onTuesday in The Lancet Global Health journal.

The highest rates of lack of exercise in 2016 were in adultsin Kuwait, American Samoa, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, where morethan half of all adults were not active enough to protect theirhealth.

By comparison, around 40 per cent of adults in the UnitedStates, 36 per cent in Britain and 14 per cent in China did toolittle exercise to stay healthy.

"Unlike other major global health risks, levels ofinsufficient physical activity are not falling worldwide, onaverage, and over a quarter of all adults are not reaching therecommended levels of physical activity for good health," saidRegina Guthold of the WHO, who co-led the research.

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The WHO says insufficient physical activity is one of theleading risk factors for premature death worldwide. It raisesthe risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such ascardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

By becoming more active, it says, people can easily achievebenefits such as improve muscular and cardio-respiratoryfitness, better bone health, weight control and reduced risk ofhypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression andvarious types of cancer.

The study found that levels of low physical activity weremore than twice as great in high-income countries compared topoorer nations, and had increased by 5.0 per cent in richercountries from 2001 to 2016.

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In wealthier countries, the researchers said, a transitiontowards more sedentary jobs as well as sedentary forms ofrecreation and transport could explain higher levels ofinactivity. In less well-off countries, people tend to be moreactive at work and for transport, they said.

They urged governments to take note of these changes and putin place infrastructures that promote walking and cycling fortransport and active sports and recreation.

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Worldwide trends in insufficient physical activity from 2001 to 2016

A quarter of adults are too inactive, putting health at risk

Lack of exercise not improving while other major global health risks are

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