Very little progress has been made in reducing levels of inactivity worldwide, experts have warned.
A WHO report estimates that more than a quarter of people worldwide – 1.4 billion – are not doing enough physical exercise, a figure that has barely improved since 2001.
Inactivity raises the risk of a raft of health problems, such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes and some cancers.
High-income countries, including the UK, were among the least active.
And women were found to be more sedentary throughout the world, with the exception of two regions of Asia.
Researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) looked at self-reported data on activity from 358 population-based surveys in 168 countries, including 1.9 million people, for theirstudy in The Lancet Global Health.
They found in high-income countries, which include the UK and the USA, the proportion of inactive people had risen from 32% in 2001 to 37% in 2016, while in low-income countries it had remained stable at 16%.
Those who were classed as inactive did less than 150 minutes of moderate exercise – or 75 minutes at a vigorous intensity – a week. -BBC
