Life Desk :
According to experts the levels of inactivity worldwide is alarming and not effort have been made to eradicate the scenario. The WHO report, as quoted in BBC says that around 1.4 billion people are not involved in physical activities much. The figure has not improved much since 2001.
Such a sedentary lifestyle can lead to a host of health problems like type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, even cancer. It has been reported that among other countries, it is the high-income ones like the UK where people are most inactive. For the study, that was published in The Lancet Public Health, researchers took into account activity-related data from 358 surveys. They were based in 168 countries and had almost 1.9 million people.
It was deduced that mostly in high-income countries like the UK and USA, the percentage of inactive people has increased from 32 to 37 from 2001 to 2016. The picture, however, is different in low-income countries where the figure is pretty stable at 16 per cent. And compared to male counterparts, women were found to be least active except two places in Asia. The differences have been attributed to factors like childcare duties, lifestyle and cultural differences that possibly poses a hindrance to performing physical activities.
The BBC report quotes that in the UK alone, 40 per cent of women were found to be inactive whereas the figure was 32 per cent for men. In low-income countries habit of walking more or using different modes of public transport help them in remaining active.
The authors of the report have warned that the way things look, it will not be possible to reduce global inactivity by 10 per cent. WHO had targetted to achieve it by 2025.
“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. Regions with increasing levels of insufficient physical activity are a major concern for public health and the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases,” says Dr Regina Guthold lead author of the study.
-From Web
According to experts the levels of inactivity worldwide is alarming and not effort have been made to eradicate the scenario. The WHO report, as quoted in BBC says that around 1.4 billion people are not involved in physical activities much. The figure has not improved much since 2001.
Such a sedentary lifestyle can lead to a host of health problems like type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, even cancer. It has been reported that among other countries, it is the high-income ones like the UK where people are most inactive. For the study, that was published in The Lancet Public Health, researchers took into account activity-related data from 358 surveys. They were based in 168 countries and had almost 1.9 million people.
It was deduced that mostly in high-income countries like the UK and USA, the percentage of inactive people has increased from 32 to 37 from 2001 to 2016. The picture, however, is different in low-income countries where the figure is pretty stable at 16 per cent. And compared to male counterparts, women were found to be least active except two places in Asia. The differences have been attributed to factors like childcare duties, lifestyle and cultural differences that possibly poses a hindrance to performing physical activities.
The BBC report quotes that in the UK alone, 40 per cent of women were found to be inactive whereas the figure was 32 per cent for men. In low-income countries habit of walking more or using different modes of public transport help them in remaining active.
The authors of the report have warned that the way things look, it will not be possible to reduce global inactivity by 10 per cent. WHO had targetted to achieve it by 2025.
“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. Regions with increasing levels of insufficient physical activity are a major concern for public health and the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases,” says Dr Regina Guthold lead author of the study.
-From Web
