A quarter of the world’s population move too little
17 January 2019More that a quarter of the world’s population move too little. A figure that has hardly improved since 2001. This is shown by a new study made by WHO.
High income countries, such as Sweden, are among the countries with the highest proportion of physical inactivity. And we are becoming more inactive – the study shows that the share of inactive people who do not move sufficiently in high income countries in the western world has increased from 32 per cent during 2001 to 37 per cent in 2016. In low income countries the average has remained stable at 16 per cent. WHO believes the fact that people exercise less in affluent countries may be due to a high level of sedentary sitting work and increased car travel and the pursuit of calmer everyday activities.
Risk of illness
Researchers from the World Health Organisation have studied self-reported data from 358 studies in 168 countries, that include 1.9 million people and the study has been published in the scientific journal The Lancet Public Health. The result shows that more than a quarter of the world’s population, 1.4 billion people, move too little, something that can result in an increased risk of cardiovascular disorders, type 2-diabetes and some forms of cancer.