Four in five teenagers not doing enough exercise, says World Health Organisation
Girls found to lag behind boys in staying active
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Your support makes all the difference.Four out of five teenagers in the UK are not doing enough exercise, according to a report from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Girls were found to lag behind boys in staying active, a trend one of the researcher’s described as “concerning”.
The figures are the first global estimates on physical activity among 11 to 17-year-olds, involving 1.6 million students from 146 countries.
Worldwide, girls on average were found to be less active than boys, with 84.7 per cent failing to reach the recommended exercise targets, which is slightly lower than the UK figure of 85.4 per cent.
Globally, 77.6 per cent of boys were reported as being too sedentary. The UK figure was 74.7 per cent.
Dr Leanne Riley, a researcher at the WHO and one of the study authors, said: “The trend of girls being less active than boys is concerning.
“More opportunities to meet the needs and interests of girls are needed to attract and sustain their participation in physical activity through adolescence and into adulthood.”
The WHO recommends adolescents take part in an hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity – which can include walking, cycling or playing games – each day.
The new analysis, published in Lancet Adolescent And Child Health, found that 81 per cent of students around the world are not meeting these requirements.
Boys in the Philippines (93 per cent) and girls in South Korea (97 per cent) were found to be the most inactive in the study. Although Bangladesh had the lowest levels of inactivity for boys and girls, figures showed two in three children (66 per cent) were not doing an hour a day of exercise.
The authors said levels of insufficient physical activity in adolescents continued to be extremely high, raising concerns about their current and future health.
Dr Regina Guthold, a WHO researcher and one of the study authors, said: “Urgent policy action to increase physical activity is needed now, particularly to promote and retain girls’ participation in physical activity.”
Writing in a linked comment in the journal, Dr Mark Tremblay, of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Canada, said physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for premature death worldwide.
He said: “The electronic revolution has fundamentally transformed people’s movement patterns by changing where and how they live, learn, work, play and travel, progressively isolating them indoors.
“People sleep less, sit more, walk less frequently, drive more regularly and do less physical activity than they used to.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
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