Lack of exercise puts 1.4 billion people at risk of disease, WHO warns

Shutterstock/Jacob Lund

Not getting enough exercise is a global problem.

Around the world, at least 1.4 billion adults are putting
themselves at risk for chronic disease because of their low
levels of physical activity, according to a new World Health
Organization report
published in the Lancet Global Health journal.

The
WHO’s recommended physical activity guidelines are
fairly close to those set by
the Centers for Disease Control: healthy adults should get at
least two and half hours of moderate-intensity activity — or 75
minutes of vigorous-intensity activity — per week, plus at least
two muscle-strengthening days.

The new report found that around the world, 32% of women and 23%
of men don’t get enough exercise, even when accounting for time
spent walking or biking to work and physical activity on the job.
(The CDC’s measurements of physical
activity levels in the US don’t count commuting or
activity at work, since those aren’t shown to have the same
improvements on health as exercise during leisure time.)

Wealthy countries are particularly exercise deficient, according
to the WHO: close to 40% of US adults and 36% of UK adults are
too sedentary.

A ‘grave concern’

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

These rates of exercise haven’t improved since 2001, the WHO
report found. They even got worse in wealthy countries like the
US and Germany, Latin American nations like Brazil and Argentina,
and in various parts of the Caribbean.

“Unlike other major global health risks, levels of insufficient
physical activity are not falling worldwide, on average, and over
a quarter of all adults are not reaching the recommended levels
of physical activity for good health,” lead study author
Dr. Regina Guthold said
in a statement.

This growing inactivity is of “grave concern,” the American Heart
Association said in a statement. That’s because a lack of
exercise increases one’s risk of heart disease, stroke, high
blood pressure, cholesterol, and body weight.

Around the world, there’s a lot of variation in physical activity
levels. Only 6% of residents of Uganda and Mozambique were too
sedentary, the report found, making those countries the most
active in the world. In Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, American Samoa, and
Iraq, more than 50% of adults don’t get enough exercise. In
general, women are far less active than men, except in east and
southeast Asia.

Shutterstock

How to meet fitness guidelines

Not getting enough exercise increases risk for cardiovascular
disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and various cancers.

To meet the minimum fitness guidelines from the CDC and WHO, you
should put in an average of about 30 minutes per day. Five days
of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise — like a 30-minute brisk
walk or a casual bike ride — is enough to meet the aerobic
guidelines. Then two days should also include resistance
training that involves weights or body-weight exercises,
since those activities are the best ways to strengthen bones and
muscles.

If that sounds like a lot, you can get your weekly dose of
exercise faster by doing vigorous exercise like running or
swimming — anything that gets your heart pumping. It takes just
75 minutes of that type of physical activity each week to meet
the guidelines. 

If you live a sedentary life, you may want to get more exercise
than the minimum guidelines call for. Sitting all day basically
causes gradual
damage to your heart, and most studies suggest that the basic
fitness guidelines aren’t enough to offset the harms of sitting.
To do that, you essentially need
to do double the recommended minimum and get between 60
and 75 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per day.

That may sound like a lot. But working out is one of the most
effective ways to transform your physical and mental health. When
you look at the benefits of exercise, which include significantly
reducing the risk of various diseases, keeping your mind sharp as
you age, and fighting
depression and anxiety, it’s worth the time.