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Global Health Risk Factors: Physical Inactivity

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Handbook of Global Health

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Abstract

Regular physical activity improves physical and mental health across all ages, and provides many social, environmental, and economic co-benefits. Physical activity includes all forms of active recreation, sports participation, cycling and walking for transportation, as well as activity undertaken at home or for work. Despite well-established benefits, one quarter of adults and three quarters of adolescents are not sufficiently active. The policy and practice of promoting physical activity integrates multidisciplinary knowledge from across clinical and social medicine, exercise science, health psychology, public health, transport, and environmental studies, to improve global health. With increasing recognition of its role in promoting better health and well-being, and supporting sustainable transport and development, physical activity is now at the intersect of key policy agendas of the twenty-first century.

This chapter provides an overview of the scientific and public health policy developments within physical activity. It outlines the shifting agenda within global public health, once viewed as an issue of individual choice concerned mostly with sports and recreation, to the current understanding and policy positioning of physical activity as a core solution to preventing chronic disease, promoting health, and contributing to environmental sustainability.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Promotion, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

    Fiona Bull

  2. Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

    Regina Guthold

  3. Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Daniel J. Friedman

  4. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Peter Katzmarzyk

Authors
  1. Fiona Bull
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  2. Regina Guthold
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  3. Daniel J. Friedman
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  4. Peter Katzmarzyk
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fiona Bull .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of International and Global Health Programme, Geneva, Switzerland

    Ilona Kickbusch

  2. Charité Foundation, Berlin, Germany

    Detlev Ganten

  3. World Health Organization, Regional Office, Brazzaville, Congo, Demographic Republic (Zaire)

    Matshidiso Moeti

Glossary

DPAS

Global Strategy on Diet and Physical Activity (WHO 2004)

GAP

Global Action Plan on NCD prevention and treatment 2013–2020 (WHO 2013)

GAPA

Global Advocacy on Physical Activity

GAPPA

Global Action plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030 (WHO 2018a)

GPAQ

Global Physical Activity Questionnaire

Hazard ratio

The ratio of (chance of an event occurring in the treatment arm)/(chance of an event occurring in the control arm)

IPAQ

International Physical Activity Questionnaire

Metabolic rate

Metabolic rate is the rate of energy expenditure per unit time and usually reported in energy units per unit time of ml O2/min or joule per hour per kg body mass

PA

Physical activity defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure

Relative risks (or risk ratio)

The ratio of the probability of an outcome in an exposed group to the probability of an outcome in an unexposed group

Sedentary behavior

Sedentary behavior is defined as any waking behavior characterized by an energy expenditure of 1.5 METS or lower while sitting, reclining, or lying. Most desk-based office work, driving a car, and watching television are examples of sedentary behaviors; these can also apply to those unable to stand, such as wheelchair users

WHA

World Health Assembly

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Bull, F., Guthold, R., Friedman, D.J., Katzmarzyk, P. (2021). Global Health Risk Factors: Physical Inactivity. In: Kickbusch, I., Ganten, D., Moeti, M. (eds) Handbook of Global Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45009-0_40

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