Big countries, yet little exercise

On September 4, 2018, The Lancet Global Health published a study demonstrating the magnitude of the global lack of exercise. The researchers evaluated 358 surveys conducted between 2001 and 2016 that examined exercise habits in 168 countries. The survey comprised of nearly two million participants, representing 96% of the world's population. Based on this data, the researchers of The Lancet Global Health concluded that in 2016, 27.5% of the world's population did not reach the minimum weekly recommended level of exercise. However, there were clear geographical differences. While more than 40% of people in Western countries, Latin America and the Caribbean did not exercise enough, this only applied to 17% of people in South-East Asia and sub-Saharan countries. Although the global level of physical activity remained rather stable between 2001 and 2016, industrialised nations saw a decline of more than 15% over the same period. Thus, in 2016, the prevalence of lacking exercise in high-income countries was twice as high as in low-income countries.

This negative trend in the developed world is in contrast to WHO's global strategy to prevent noncontagious diseases.The strategy plans to reduce the global lack of physical exercise by 10% by 2025. If this trend cannot be reversed, obesity and associated diseases threaten to reach unprecedented levels. For this reason, the affected countries should act today and invest in education and the fight against physical inactivity. In the end, exercise and sports not only improve our quality of life and prevent a variety of illnesses, but they are often also the best and cheapest medicine.

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