Physical inactivity a ‘silent threat’ as countries, including Canada, go off course – National

A growing number of people in Canada and worldwide are physically inactive, the World Health Organization said in a new study, calling it a “silent threat” that needs more attention.

Data published in The Lancet Global Health log On Tuesday, it emerged that more than a third (31.3 percent) of the world’s adult population – or roughly 1.8 billion people – did not meet WHO’s recommended levels of physical activity by 2022.

This was an increase of almost four percentage points compared to 2016, when 27.5 percent of the world’s population was not sufficiently physically active.

For adults, the WHO recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of activities, every week.

The WHO study shows that in Canada, 37.2 percent of adults were physically inactive in 2022. In 2010 this was still 31.1 percent and in 2000 it was still 25.6 percent. If these trends continue by 2030, the prevalence of physical inactivity in Canada could rise to 41.4 percent, WHO estimates.

“Unfortunately, the world is not moving in the right direction,” Ruediger Krech, WHO director of health promotion, said during a virtual press conference.

“Physical inactivity is a silent threat to global health and contributes significantly to the burden of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and respiratory diseases,” he said.

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The WHO study looked at levels of insufficient physical activity in 197 countries and territories between 2000 and 2022. It included 507 surveys from 163 countries and territories.

It concluded that about half of countries, including Canada, are showing an increasing trend in physical inactivity, while the other half have made progress over the past decade.

Fiona Bull, head of the WHO’s physical activity division, said 22 countries, mainly from Europe and the Western Pacific, are on track to meet the agency’s global target of a 15 percent relative reduction in physical inactivity by 2023 to get.

But overall, the world is not yet on track to reach that goal, she said.

“This is a wake-up call that we are not doing enough in almost half of the countries and even in the countries where there is a promising trend there is no room for complacency,” she said during the press conference on Tuesday.

Scott Lear, a professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, said the “troubling” part of the Canadian data is that there are likely more people who are physically inactive because people tend to overestimate their activity levels when self-reporting. .

“This 37 percent could be closer to 45 percent, leaving almost half of the population physically inactive,” he said in an interview with Global News.

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Data showed that globally, women are still less active than men on average, by a difference of five percentage points.

In high-income countries, the prevalence of physical inactivity was higher than in low-income countries, but the highest levels of inactivity were in the lower-middle income classification.

There are several factors why physical inactivity is increasing worldwide, experts say.

Changing transportation patterns as roads have become unsafe means fewer people are walking and biking, Bull said.

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Work models have shifted to more sedentary work with greater reliance on technology, she added.

Bull also pointed to changes in leisure activities that are more screen-based and sedentary.

“All of these trends, combined with the changing environments we live in, where there is increasing car use, increasing pollution and the creation of urban environments that are not supported for being active, are creating conditions that do not allow for physical activity,” she told reporters.

Although the WHO analysis did not take into account the impact of COVID-19 people’s activity levels, Lear said pandemic restrictions likely also played a role in these trends.

Affordability is also a barrier to physical activity, experts say, as gyms, organized sports and clubs become increasingly expensive.

Physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for non-communicable diseases and deaths worldwide, according to the WHO.

Therefore, increasing your physical activity can minimize these risks, experts say.

“Physical activity must be accessible, affordable and enjoyable for everyone so that we can significantly reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases and mental health problems,” Krech said.

WHO calls on countries to strengthen policy implementation to promote and enable physical activity through community sports, active recreation and transport, through walking and cycling, as well as the use of public transport.

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Bull emphasized the need for public open spaces where people live, work and play.

She said physical activity can be undertaken through traditional sports that are formal and competitive, or through informal and unstructured sports such as yoga, walking and cycling.

Although the recommendation is 150 minutes of moderate intensity per week, Lear says you can feel the benefits from the first minute of physical activity.

He recommended setting daily reminders for “an exercise snack,” where you walk around for a few minutes, doing some push-ups, squats or jumping jacks.

If you don’t feel like going to the gym, activities like raking the leaves in the fall, mowing the lawn with a hand mower in the summer or even running errands are also moderate activities, Lear says.

“The best activity or exercise for a person is the activity he/she enjoys doing,” he said.