WHO sounds alarm over lack of physical activity among teens
A new WHO study reveals that one in four adolescents globally fails to meet basic physical activity requirements, posing long-term health risks like heart disease and diabetes. The report highlights a persistent gender gap, with girls being significantly less active than boys.
Why it matters
Widespread physical inactivity among youth represents a major public health challenge that could increase the global burden of chronic diseases in the coming decades.
Geneva: A quarter of teens globally engage in basically no physical activity -- not even an hour of exercise a week -- the World Health Organization said Wednesday, warning that this significantly raises health risks.The WHO's new global estimates found that when asked, one in four adolescents aged 11 to 17 report no active days -- defined as at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity -- in the previous week.The study, published in The Lancet Global Health, draws on hundreds of population-based surveys from 140 countries and territories, involving more than 3.2 million teens, WHO said.When extrapolated, the findings amount to some 240 million young people with no active days in the span of a week, the United Nations health agency said.Overall, adolescents partaking in the studies on average reported being active for 2.7 days a week, while only 14 percent reported being active on all seven…
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