Lack of exercise among teens cause for worry

Four in five adolescents worldwide do not get enough physical activity, to the detriment of their health, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the message deserves serious attention.

The first-ever global trends for adolescent insufficient physical activity show that urgent action is needed to increase physical activity levels in girls and boys aged 11 to 17 years.

The study, published in ‘The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health’ journal and produced by researchers from WHO, has found that more than 80% of school-going adolescents globally did not meet current recommendations of at least one hour of physical activity per day – including 85% of girls and 78% of boys. And that’s shocking.

The study – which is based on data reported by 1.6 million 11 to 17-year-old students – finds that across all 146 countries studied between 2001-2016 girls were less active than boys in all but four (Tonga, Samoa, Afghanistan and Zambia).

The difference in the proportion of boys and girls meeting the recommendations was greater than 10 percentage points in almost one in three countries in 2016 (29%, 43 of 146 countries), with the biggest gaps seen in the United States of America and Ireland (more than 15 percentage points). Most countries in the study (73%, 107 of 146) saw this gender gap widen between 2001-2016.

Urgent policy action to increase physical activity is needed now, particularly to promote and retain girls’ participation in physical activity,” as study author Dr Regina Guthold of WHO points out.

The health benefits of a physically active lifestyle during adolescence include improved cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, bone and cardiometabolic health, and positive effects on weight.

There is also growing evidence that physical activity has a positive impact on cognitive development and socialising. Current evidence suggests that many of these benefits continue into adulthood.

To achieve these benefits, adolescents should do moderate or vigorous physical activity for an hour or more each day.

The UN’s food agency, FAO, last month called for action to make healthy, sustainable diets affordable and accessible for all citing that eating food high in starch, sugar, fats and salt, combined with a sedentary lifestyle, is a recipe for soaring global obesity rates, even in countries where many still suffer from hunger.

The shift away from seasonal, mainly plant-based and fibre-rich food has occurred in recent decades, as a result of globalisation, urbanisation and growth in income, says FAO, as busy consumers in urban areas find less time to cook at home, and rely increasingly on fast-food outlets, street food vendors and take-away meals.

This has sadly led to a situation whereby almost 800 million people are considered obese, and over 40 million children under-five are overweight.

The health costs of unhealthy eating habits – blamed as the leading cause of diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers – are estimated at around $2 trillion per year.

It is sad that despite ambitious global targets for increasing physical activity, the WHO study found virtually no change over the 15-year-period it covered.

As the authors of WHO study point out, to increase physical activity for young people, governments need to identify and address the many causes and inequities – social, economic, cultural, technological, and environmental – that can perpetuate the differences between boys and girls.

Policies should increase all forms of physical activity, including through physical education that develops physical literacy, more sports, active play and recreation opportunities – as well as providing safe environments so young people can walk and cycle independently.