2019 – Posted in: Daily News

Adolescent physical activity report by W.H.O

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered:

Key findings of the report
What is Physical Activity? What are its benefits?

News Flash

Most adolescents (11 to 17 years) aren’t getting enough physical activity such as walking, riding a bike or playing sports.

UN health agency found that 81% of adolescents spend more time on the screen which replaces their physical activity in and outside the homes across the globe.

Physical activity and related facts

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that require energy expenditure. The term “physical activity” should not be mistaken with “exercise”. Exercise is a subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and purposeful in the sense that the improvement or maintenance of one or more components of physical fitness is the objective.
Physical inactivity (lack of physical activity) has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality (6% of deaths globally).
Moreover, physical inactivity is estimated to be the main cause for approximately 21–25% of breast and colon cancers, 27% of diabetes and approximately 30% of ischaemic heart disease burden.

Benefits of physical activities

Reduce the risk of hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, breast and colon cancer, depression and the risk of falls;
Improve bone and functional health; and
Are a key determinant of energy expenditure, and thus fundamental to energy balance and weight control.

Key Highlights of the Report

The study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal, found that 85% of girls and 78% of boys are not meeting the current recommendation of at least one hour of physical activity per day.
Male youths in rich Western countries and female youths in South Asia get the most exercise within their respective genders.
Four in every five adolescents do not experience the enjoyment and social, physical, and mental health benefits of regular physical activity.
The percentage of teenagers meeting the goal ranged from 66% in Bangladesh to 94% in South Korea.
Bangladesh tops the list while USA’s adolescents figure fourth on the list of 146 countries.
High-income Asia Pacific countries had the highest levels of insufficient activity, while India, the United States and 17 countries in Europe had some of the lowest rates.
Globally, the study found there is no clear pattern of inactivity by income level or region.
The lower rate of girl inactivity levels in Bangladesh and India is potentially explained by “girls being required to support activity and domestic chores around the home.
Only in four countries — Afghanistan, Samoa, Tonga, and Zambia — are girls more active than boys.
The gender gap also appears to be linked to cultural traditions that keep girls at home, as well as safety concerns when girls are outdoors.
In 2016, the Philippines was the country with the highest prevalence of insufficient activity among boys (93 percent), whereas South Korea showed the highest levels among girls (97 percent) and both genders combined (94 percent).

Trend in India

India is among the top ten ranking countries with the lowest level of insufficient physical activity among adolescents.
India is ranked eighth with an overall prevalence of insufficient physical activity in adolescents at 73.9 percent.
Lowest levels of insufficient physical activity in boys were found in Bangladesh, India and the USA.
The lower levels of insufficient physical activity in Bangladesh and India (where 63 percent and 72 percent of boys were insufficiently active in 2016, respectively) may be explained by the strong focus on national sports like cricket.
While India is below the global average there are still ¾ of Indian adolescents not getting enough physical activity.
For girls, the lowest levels of insufficient activity were seen in Bangladesh and India.

Electronic Revolution

The electronic revolution seems to have changed adolescents’ movement patterns and encourages them to sit more, to be less active, to drive more, walk less, (and) be less active in general.

Way ahead

Urgent policy action to increase physical activity is needed now, particularly to promote and retain girls’ participation in physical activity.

The study authors have recommended urgent scaling up of known effective policies and programmes to increase physical activity in adolescents.

Source: Indian Express