Physical inactivity a ‘silent threat’ as countries, including Canada, off track

A growing number of people in Canada and globally are physically inactive, the World Health Organization said in a new study, calling it a 'silent threat.'

A growing number of people in Canada and globally are physically inactive, the World Health Organization said in a new study, calling it a “silent threat” that needs greater attention.

Data published in The Lancet Global Health journal on Tuesday showed that more than a third (31.3 per cent) of the global adult population — or roughly 1.8 billion people — did not meet the WHO’s recommended levels of physical activity in 2022.

This was an increase of almost four percentage points from 2016, when 27.5 per cent of the global population was insufficiently physically active.

For adults, the WHO recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or its equivalent combination of activities, each week.

In Canada, 37.2 per cent of adults were reported as physically inactive in 2022, the WHO study showed, going up from 31.1 per cent in 2010 and 25.6 per cent in 2000. If these trends continue, by 2030, the prevalence of physical inactivity in Canada could go up to 41.4 per cent, the WHO estimates.

“Unfortunately, the world is not going into the right direction,” said Ruediger Krech, WHO’s director of health promotion, during a virtual news conference.

“Physical inactivity is a silent threat to global health, contributing significantly to the burden of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes or respiratory diseases,” he said.

The WHO study looked at the levels of insufficient physical activity for 197 countries and territories between 2000 and 2022. It included 507 surveys from 163 countries.