About 240 million adolescents aged 11-17 worldwide do not achieve 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on any day of the week, new World Health Organization estimates show.
The estimates, published in The Lancet Global Health, found that one in four adolescents had no active days in a typical week. Adolescents reported being active for an average of 2.7 days a week, while only 14% said they were active every day.
Girls were less active than boys in almost every country and WHO region covered by the study. Twenty-eight per cent of girls reported no active days during the week, compared with 22% of boys. Just 11% of girls were active every day, against 17% of boys.
The analysis drew on 389 population-based surveys in 140 countries and territories, involving more than 3.2 million adolescents. It found that activity levels had remained virtually unchanged over 15 years. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the response should be to make movement, play and physical activity safe, easy and normal in schools, streets and communities.
India was not included because researchers did not identify nationally or large sub-nationally representative surveys meeting the study criteria. Study author Tessa Strain, a Chancellor's Fellow at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, said researchers reviewed more than 15 Indian surveys, but each had at least one reason for exclusion.
WHO member states adopted a target in 2018 to reduce physical inactivity by 15% by 2030, but Strain said no country is currently on track to meet it. WHO has called for coordinated action across education, transport, urban planning, sport and health, including safe walking and cycling routes, public spaces and opportunities for physical activity in schools, particularly for girls.
