You might think we humans are meant to move: our body with its skeleton and its muscles is designed for physical activity. But more and more people in wealthy countries are not moving enough. According to a recent study by the WHO, in Germany the number of people not physically active enough rose by 15% and is now at more than 40%. In economically comparable countries only the Portuguese, the New Zealanders and the inhabitants of Cyprus are more lazy.

For Switzerland, the numbers are not more promising:

• 23% of adults aged 18 years and over were insufficiently physically active.
• Women were less active than men and older people were less active than younger people.
• 81% of adolescents aged 11–17 years were insufficiently physically active.Generally, people in poorer countries are more physically active than those in wealthier countries.

  Hence, the new aim of the WHO is to promote and increase physical activity worldwide.

  The minimum of physical activity is 150 minutes per week or 75% of sport. That still seems low and reflects the level of activity we are currently facing worldwide. And it is, because according to the WHO, we need to double these times to improve our overall health.

  By the way, the countries with the least number of physical activity are Uganda (5,5%), Mozambique, Lesotho and Tanzania, the countries with the highest number of inactive people aren Kuwait (67%), Samoa, Saudi-Arabia and Iraq. In those countries, the difference between men and women were also surprising, women are a lot less physically active than men.

  The WHO asks politicians to improve physical activity of their population, by improving the safety of cyclists and to create more offers of sports stadiums and sports activities.

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Luitgard Holzleg

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