Nearly 1.8 billion adults at risk of disease from not doing enough physical activity

A new data study shows that nearly one third (31 per cent) of adults worldwide, approximately 1.8 billion people, did not meet the recommended levels of physical activity in 2022. The findings point to a trend of physical inactivity among adults, which has increased by about 5 percentage points between 2010 and 2022. 

The study was undertaken by researchers from WHO together with academic colleagues and published in The Lancet Global Health journal

“If the trend continues, levels of inactivity are projected to further rise to 35 per cent by 2030, and the world is currently off track from meeting the global target to reduce physical inactivity by 2030,” informs the WHO release.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that adults have 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or equivalent, per week. Physical inactivity puts adults at greater risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes, type two diabetes, dementia and cancers such as breast and colon.

“These new findings highlight a lost opportunity to reduce cancer and heart disease, and to improve mental well-being through increased physical activity,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. 

The highest rates of physical inactivity were observed in the high-income Asia Pacific region (48 per cent) and South Asia (45 per cent), with levels of inactivity in other regions ranging from 28 per cent in high-income Western countries to 14 per cent in Oceania.

In light of these findings, WHO is calling on countries to strengthen their policy implementation to promote and enable physical activity through grassroots and community sport and active recreation and transport (walking, cycling and use of public transport), among other measures.