SeriesGlobal physical activity levels: surveillance progress, pitfalls, and prospects
Section snippets
Physical activity in a changing world
Since the industrial revolution, the development of new technologies has enabled people to reduce the amount of physical labour needed to accomplish many tasks in their daily lives. As the availability of new devices has continued to increase, the effects on physical labour and human energy expenditure have grown to include many aspects of the lives of more and more people. The effects of some of these technologies on physical activity are obvious (eg, steam, gas, and electric engines; trains;
Self-reported physical activity in adults
We obtained comparable estimates for physical inactivity in adults (aged 15 years or older) from 122 countries with the WHO global health observatory data repository.12 The combined population of these 122 countries represents 88·9% of the world's population. For our analyses, physical inactivity was defined as not meeting any of three criteria: 30 min of moderate-intensity physical activity on at least 5 days every week, 20 min of vigorous-intensity physical activity on at least 3 days every
Trends in physical activity
Several behavioural and environmental factors, and megatrends (major forces in societal development that affect people's lives) affect population levels of physical activity.94 Rapid urbanisation, mechanisation, and increased use of motorised transport could have caused global changes in physical activity.95, 96 Examples of national surveillance systems that aim to assess trends in physical activity are scarce, most are fairly recent, and most are in high-income countries.
A systematic review21
Surveillance progress and gaps
Much progress has been made in the availability of national population-level data for physical activity in the past decade, particularly in adults. About two-thirds of all WHO Member States have at least some data for population levels of physical activity, which is a great surveillance achievement. Collectively, data now available for adult and adolescent populations provide a global picture of the pattern of participation and exposure to the risk of inactivity, and form the basis for national
Translation of knowledge into action
Our findings are troubling. Roughly three of every ten individuals aged 15 years or older—about 1·5 billion people—do not reach present physical activity recommendations.5, 14 The situation in adolescents is even more worrying, with a worldwide estimate that four of every five adolescents aged 13–15 years do not meet present guidelines. As summarised by Lee and colleagues,115 these individuals are at increased risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, some types of cancer, several other
References (121)
- et al.
Coronary heart-disease and physical activity of work
Lancet
(1953) - et al.
Coronary heart-disease and physical activity of work
Lancet
(1953) - et al.
Worldwide prevalence of physical inactivity and its association with human development index in 76 countries
Prev Med
(2011) - et al.
Improving health through policies that promote active travel: a review of evidence to support integrated health impact assessment
Environ Int
(2011) - et al.
Infrastructure, programs, and policies to increase bicycling: an international review
Prev Med
(2010) - et al.
Active commuting and cardiovascular risk: a meta-analytic review
Prev Med
(2008) - et al.
Longitudinal associations of cycling to school with adolescent fitness
Prev Med
(2008) - et al.
Bicycling renaissance in North America? An update and re-appraisal of cycling trends and policies
Transportation Res Part A
(2011) - et al.
Active travel in Germany and the US: contributions of daily walking and cycling to physical activity
Am J Prev Med
(2011) Means of transportation to work and overweight and obesity: a population-based study in southern Sweden
Prev Med
(2008)
Walking trends among US adults: the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1987–2000
Am J Prev Med
The descriptive epidemiology of sitting a 20-country comparison using the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ)
Am J Prev Med
Trends in leisure-, transport-, and work-related physical activity in Canada 1994–2005
Prev Med
Reduced physical activity and risk of chronic disease: the biology behind the consequences
Eur J Appl Physiol
Global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2010
Global health risks: mortality and burden of disease attributable to selected major risks
Physical inactivity
Physical activity and public health: updated recommendation for adults from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association
Circulation
Physical inactivity: the “Cinderella” risk factor for noncommunicable disease prevention
J Health Commun
Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni
N Engl J Med
International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity
Med Sci Sports Exerc
Global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ): nine country reliability and validity study
J Phys Act Health
Global health observatory data repository
International physical activity questionnaire. 2011
Global recommendations on physical activity for health
Global physical activity surveillance
Age-related decline in physical activity: generalization to nonhumans
Med Sci Sports Exerc
Correlates of adults' participation in physical activity: review and update
Med Sci Sports Exerc
Physical activity in adults from two Brazilian areas: similarities and differences
Cad Saude Publica
Changes in physical activity among Brazilian adults over a 5-year period
J Epidemiol Community Health
Temporal trends in physical activity: a systematic review
J Phys Act Health
A descriptive epidemiology of leisure-time physical activity in Brazil, 1996–1997
Rev Panam Salud Publica
Walking to health
Sports Med
Interventions to promote walking: systematic review
BMJ
Adolescent physical activity and health: a systematic review
Sports Med
Physical activity levels and patterns of 9- and 15-yr-old European children
Med Sci Sports Exerc
Global school-based student health survey
Inequalities in young people's health: HBSC international report from the 2005/2006 survey
Is spending time in screen-based sedentary behaviors associated with less physical activity: a cross national investigation
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
Inequalities in young people's health: health behaviour in school-aged children international report from the 2005/2006 survey
A prospective study of walking as compared with vigorous exercise in the prevention of coronary heart disease in women
N Engl J Med
All-cause mortality associated with physical activity during leisure time, work, sports, and cycling to work
Arch Intern Med
Interventions to promote cycling: systematic review
BMJ
Influence of exercise, walking, cycling, and overall nonexercise physical activity on mortality in Chinese women
Am J Epidemiol
Walking compared with vigorous physical activity and risk of type 2 diabetes in women: a prospective study
JAMA
A prospective study of exercise and incidence of diabetes among US male physicians
JAMA
Walking and cycling to health: a comparative analysis of city, state, and international data
Am J Public Health
Walking compared with vigorous exercise for the prevention of cardiovascular events in women
N Engl J Med
Physical activity, including walking, and cognitive function in older women
JAMA
Cycling to school is associated with lower BMI and lower odds of being overweight or obese in a large population-based study of Danish adolescents
J Phys Act Health
Cited by (0)
- †
Members listed at end of paper