Regular physical activity promotes both mental and physical health in people of all ages. Yet, today, majority of young people in the world are physically inactive, putting them at risk for diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. The first World Health Organization global status report on physical activity, published on October 19, 2022, said more than 80 percent of adolescents and 27 percent of adults do not meet the World Health Organization’s recommended levels of physical activity.
There’s a high cost of physical inactivity. The WHO report said between 2020 and 2030, almost 500 million people will develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes or other noncommunicable diseases attributable to physical inactivity. The report urged governments to take urgent action to encourage more physical activity among their populations.
The report said the cost of treating new cases of preventable non-communicable diseases will reach nearly $300 billion by 2030, or around $27 billion annually.
Based on data from 194 countries, the study cited the need to accelerate the development and implementation of policies to increase levels of physical activity to prevent disease and reduce the burden on already overwhelmed health-care systems.
In policy areas that could encourage active and sustainable transport, only just over 40 percent of countries have road design standards that make walking and cycling safer. “We need more countries to scale up implementation of policies to support people to be more active through walking, cycling, sport, and other physical activity. The benefits are huge, not only for the physical and mental health of individuals, but also for societies, environments, and economies,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We hope countries and partners will use this report to build more active, healthier, and fairer societies for all.”
Considered a “best buy” for motivating populations to combat non-communicable diseases, the report showed that only just over 50 percent of countries ran a national communications campaign, or organized mass participation physical activity events in the last two years. The Covid-19 pandemic has not only stalled these initiatives, but it also affected other policy implementation that has widened inequities in access to and opportunities for engaging in physical activity for many communities.
To help countries increase physical activity, WHO’s Global action plan on physical activity 2018-2030 sets out 20 policy recommendations—including policies to create safer roads to encourage more active transport, provide more programs and opportunities for physical activity in key settings, such as childcare, schools, primary health care and the workplace.
“We are missing globally approved indicators to measure access to parks, cycle lanes, foot paths—even though we know that data do exist in some countries. Consequently, we cannot report or track the global provision of infrastructure that will facilitate increases in physical activity,” said Fiona Bull, Head of WHO Physical Activity Unit. “It can be a vicious cycle, no indicator and no data leads to no tracking and no accountability, and then too often, to no policy and no investment. What gets measured gets done, and we have some way to go to comprehensively and robustly track national actions on physical activity.”
The report calls for countries to prioritize physical activity as key to improving health and tackling non-communicable diseases, integrate physical activity into all relevant policies, and develop tools, guidance and training to improve implementation.
“This report issues a clear call to all countries for stronger and accelerated action by all relevant stakeholders working better together to achieve the global target of a 15 percent reduction in the prevalence of physical inactivity by 2030,” said Dr. Ruediger Krech, Director of the WHO Department of Health Promotion.
One critical finding in the WHO global status report on physical activity is the existence of significant gaps in global data to track progress on important policy actions—such as provision of public open space, provision of walking and cycling infrastructure, provision of sport and physical education in schools.
The WHO report shows that government policies can significantly affect the health and well being of citizens. It would do well for the Philippine government to build the needed infrastructure that encourages walking and cycling. It’s about time we treat the health of Filipinos as the country’s number one asset. After all, our nation’s progress heavily depends on the health and well being of its citizens.