A new report from the World Health Organization finds that our collective lack of exercise will take a heavy toll for years to come if nothing changes. The report estimates that there will be be almost a medium-billion new cases of non-communicable disorders like heart disease and diabetes due to physical inactivity by 2030. It also found that many countries are doing little to help people stay active, such as building safer walking paths.
the recommendations come from the first g of the whoReport on the global state of physical activity. It analyzes data from 194 countries on how often people are physically active and the policies implemented by countries to promote physical activity. As part of the report, the authors also calculated the potential effects on health care systems if people’s level of exercise remained the same through 2030. These latest estimates will be published in a future article. but you can see in a prepress from the Lancet that was published last week.
Frequentlymore than one factor contributes to a person’s heart disease or other noncommunicable disease (NCD), and only some of these risk factors are preventable or can be improved. But many studies have shown that any amount of exercise, regardless of a personon age, it can help people stay healthier. Based on other research, the authors attempted to calculate the fraction of preventable NCDs strongly linked to physical inactivity that would emerge over the next decade, specifically targeting seven major conditions: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain cancers, dementia, and depression.
Overall, the authors estimated that almost 500 million new cases of these conditions would occur between 2020 and 2030 around the world. These cases would also rack up around $300 billion (USD) in direct medical costs during that time period. and about $27 billion annually by 2030. Most of these cases (about 74%) would occur in low- to middle-income countries, but the economic costs would be higher in higher-income countries (about 64%).
“This study calls for urgent action by countries to prioritize investments in interventions that reduce this modifiable risk factor,” the authors wrote.
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However, so far, it appears that most countries are far short of these investments. The WHO report found that less than half of countries have a national physical activity policy. Only 30% of countries have established national physical activity guidelines for all age groups. And while most countries have some way of tracking how active adults are, less than 30% do the same for children under the age of 5. the covid-19 pandemic, the report author’s note.
There are a multitude of reasons why people are not as physically active as they could be, and many of them are outside of people’s control, such as the type of job and the hours of work they have. But the report also highlights the actions that governments are failing to take to encourage a more active lifestyle for residents. Only 40% of countries, for example, have road design standards that would make walking and riding a bicycle safer
“We need more countries to scale up policy implementation to help people be more active through walking, cycling, sports and other physical activities. The benefits are enormous, not only for people’s physical and mental health, but also for societies, the environment and economies,” said Tedros. Adhanom GhebreyesusWHO Director-General, in a statement announcing the report. “We hope that countries and partners will use this report to build more active, healthy and fair societies for all.”
Some of the recommendations provided by the WHO to encourage physical activity include more public open spaces, walkable roads and other infrastructure, and more sports or gym activities at school. There is also a need for better data collection, as little is known about people’s access to parks and other ways to help people be more active.
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