The World Health Organization (WHO) has once again warned about the serious consequences of a sedentary lifestyle for health in its first Report on the global situation of physical activity 2022, in which it indicates that between 2020 and 2030 it is estimated that around 500 million people will develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that can be attributed to physical inactivity if governments do not take immediate action to help encourage more exercise and physical activity in the population .
The practice of physical exercise has numerous benefits for people’s health and emotional well-being but, in addition, the WHO estimates that diseases associated with sedentary lifestyle will cost 27 billion US dollars a year if urgent interventions are not carried out to avoid it, and for this reason in its new report it has evaluated how the different governments are implementing the recommendations to increase physical activity in all people, according to their age and abilities.
We are lazy: insufficient levels of physical activity in the population
WHO experts have analyzed data from 194 countries that reveal that they have generally made little progress in this regard and need to accelerate the development and implementation of policies that help increase levels of physical activity and, in this way, prevent disease and reduce the burden on already overwhelmed health care systems. These are the main conclusions of the document:
“We need more countries to scale up policy implementation to help people be more active through walking, cycling, sports and other physical activities. The benefits are enormous, not only for people’s physical and mental health, but also for societies, environments and economies…” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, adding: “We hope that countries and partners use this report to build more active, healthy and fair societies for all”.
The WHO estimates that diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle will cost 27 billion dollars a year if urgent interventions are not carried out to prevent it
National policies to manage noncommunicable diseases and combat physical inactivity have increased in recent years, but 28% of these policies remain unfunded and unimplemented. The report, in fact, has shown that in the last two years only just over 50% of the countries carried out a national communication campaign or organized physical activity events with mass participation. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these initiatives difficult and has reduced opportunities for many communities to participate in them.
Target: reduce the prevalence of physical inactivity by 15% by 2030
The WHO Global Plan of Action on Physical Activity 2018-2030 (GAPPA) proposes 20 policy recommendations, including those aimed at creating safer roads to promote more active transport, and providing more programs and opportunities for physical activity in safe environments. such as childcare, schools, primary health care and the workplace, to help countries increase physical activity.
The report on the global state of physical activity presented by the WHO assesses the progress made against these recommendations and reveals that much more needs to be done. One of its key findings is that there are significant gaps in global data to track progress on important policy actions, such as the provision of open public spaces, walking and cycling infrastructure, and the provision of sport and physical education in schools.
“We lack globally approved indicators to measure access to parks, bike paths, pedestrian paths, although we know that data exists in some countries. Consequently, we are unable to report or track the global provision of infrastructure that will facilitate increased physical activity,” said Fiona Bull, Head of the WHO Physical Activity Unit. “It can be a vicious cycle, with no indicator and no data leading to lack of monitoring and accountability, and then too often no policy and no investment. What gets measured gets done, and we have a way to go to comprehensively and robustly track national actions on physical activity.”
The report urges countries to prioritize physical activity as a building block for improving health and addressing noncommunicable diseases, integrate physical activity into all relevant policies, and develop tools, guidance and training to improve implementation.
“It is good for public health and it makes economic sense to promote more physical activity for all”, said Dr. Ruediger Krech, director of the WHO Department of Health Promotion, who concludes: “We need to facilitate inclusive physical activity programs for all and ensure that people have easier access to them. This report makes a clear call to all countries for stronger and accelerated action by all relevant stakeholders to work better together to achieve the global target of a 15% reduction in the prevalence of physical inactivity by 2030. ”.
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