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2018-09-06

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Developmental Issues
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Time to act: Insufficient activity puts people at greater risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dementia.   | Photo Credit: ertyo5

Thirty-four per cent of Indians — 24.7% male and 43.9% females — are not active enough to stay healthy, according to the latest study released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which noted that, globally, more than 1.4 billion adults are at risk of diseases from not doing enough physical activity.

Published in Lancet Global Health, the study notes that there is no improvement in global levels of physical activity since 2001. The data shows that if current trends continue, the 2025 global activity target of a 10% relative reduction in insufficient physical activity will not be met.

Insufficient activity puts people at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, dementia, and some cancers, according to the first study to estimate global physical activity trends over time.

Worldwide, around 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men do not do enough physical activity to stay healthy. “Levels of insufficient physical activity are more than twice as high in high income countries compared with low income countries, and increased by 5% in high income countries between 2001 and 2016,’’ noted the study.

The highest rates of insufficient activity in 2016 were found in adults in Kuwait, American Samoa, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, where more than half of all adults were insufficiently active. Comparatively, around 40% of adults in the United States, 36% in the UK and 14% in China were insufficiently active.

“Unlike other major global health risks, levels of insufficient physical activity are not falling worldwide, on average, and over a quarter of all adults are not reaching the recommended levels of physical activity for good health,” warns the study’s lead author Dr. Regina Guthold.

In 2016, around one in three women (32%) and one in four men (23%) worldwide were not reaching the recommended levels of physical activity to stay healthy — that is, at least 150 minutes of physical activity of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of physical activity of vigorous intensity per week.

The new study is based on self-reported activity levels, including activity at work and at home, for transport, and during leisure time, in adults aged 18 years and older, from 358 population-based surveys in 168 countries, and includes 1.9 million participants.

“Addressing these inequalities in physical activity levels between men and women will be critical to achieving global activity targets and will require interventions to promote and improve women’s access to opportunities that are safe, affordable and culturally acceptable,” said co-author Dr. Fiona Bull.

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