1 in 4 adults in the world work-out too little

exerciseExercise.Photo: Pixabay

More than a quarter of the world’s adult population is at a higher risk of dying of diabetes and cancer due to lack of exercise according to a global study.

 

In total,1.4 billion people could die prematurely because they do not move enough according to a World Health Organization (WHO) survey.The UN organization recommended that adults be in moderate motion for at least 150 minutes a week, or if they work a little harder during the sessions, 75 minutes per week in total.

“Unlike major global health risks, there is no risk from physical activity worldwide,” said WHO researcher Regina Guthold, who led the study.

The report was published in the medical journal The Lancet on Wednesday.

No improvement

According to the figures, 27.5% of the adult population worldwide do not meet the minimum target for physical activity. In Norway, between 20 and 30% of men train too little, while the figure is between 30 and 40% for Norwegian women.

This has been checked over time, and the figure dropped from 28.5% in 2001 to 27.5% in 2016,only a 1% decline in the global average,so not a big improvement, despite a lot of attention around the theme.

The rich,western and Latin American countries, including Germany,New Zealand, the United States, Argentina and Brazil, have experienced the greatest increase in sedentary lifestyle during this period.

Worst and best

However, the countries where sitting still is the biggest problem are the Arab countries,Kuwait,Saudi Arabia and Iraq,as well as American Samoa.In these four countries, less than half of the adult population reach the minimum target of recommended physical activity per week.

The reason that people in rich countries move less is that they spend more time at sedentary work, and in their spare time, using motorised transport when they go from A to B instead of their own muscle power.

In less rich countries, physical work is still done on the job,and lack of public transport and vehicle ownership tends to make people use the body more.

Uganda and Mozambique are the countries with least inactive adults,only 6% of the population need more exercise in those countries.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today