The highest prevalence of physical inactivity is noted in the high-income Asia-Pacific region (48%), which includes South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. It is followed by the South Asian region (45%), which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
“Asia forms about 30% of the world's population, but it accounts for almost 50% of diseases. “We have more people with diabetes, cancer, heart disease than anywhere else in the world,” Abrar Mir, co-founder of Quadria Capital, told Squawk Box Asia.
On average, women are less physically active (34%) than men (29%). The gap is most pronounced in the South Asian region, where women are 14% less active than men, according to a report published in The Lancet Global Health.
“Physical activity levels are determined by a combination of factors, - says Fiona Bull, head of the WHO’s physical activity unit. - These include personal motivation, time availability, and social and environmental factors such as people’s habits or even the temperature and climate of your region.”
According to her, children and adolescents may be under pressure to focus on their studies, leaving them with less time to exercise; and some of these habits may continue into adulthood. But there’s no single reason why some regions and populations are more physically active than others.
Since 2000, people have become less active overall, with the prevalence of hypodynamy among adults rising to 31.3% in 2022, up from 26.4% in 2010 and 23.4% in 2000, according to the study, which is based on 507 surveys in 163 countries and territories.
This can be partly explained by the rapid adoption of technology in recent decades. “People are increasingly working on electronic devices, computers, and are often sedentary because they’re emailing rather than communicating in person. So we’re not moving as much,” Bull believes.
Physical inactivity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, which are “the leading cause of premature death in the modern world,” claiming more than 10 million lives each year, Bull said.
Photo courtesy of public sources
