One in four adolescents not getting at least 1 hour of physical activity

• One in four adolescents worldwide reported not getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity on any day in the previous week, according to new global estimates released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

• That amounts to some 240 million young people aged 11 to 17 who reported not completing at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on a single day. 

• According to the WHO report, ‘A generation missing out: Global trends in adolescent physical activity, 2010-2025’, about 86 per cent of adolescents reported fewer than seven active days in 2025 – a figure that has not changed since 2010. 

Importance of physical activity

• WHO defines physical activity as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. 

• Physical activity refers to all movement including during leisure time, for transport to get to and from places, or as part of a person’s work or domestic activities. 

• Both moderate and vigorous-intensity physical activity improve health. 

• Popular ways to be active include walking, cycling, wheeling, sports, active recreation and play, and can be done at any level of skill and for enjoyment by everybody.  

• Physical activity is beneficial to health and well-being and conversely, physical inactivity increases risk for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other poor health outcomes. 

• Together, physical inactivity and sedentary behaviours are contributing to the rise in NCDs and placing a burden on health-care systems.

• Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. 

• Helping young people develop active habits early in life is critical to protecting their health and reducing the global burden of these diseases.

Key points of the report:

• The new study draws on 389 population-based surveys from 140 countries and territories, involving more than 3.2 million adolescents. 

• On average, adolescents reported being active on just 2.7 days a week and only 14 per cent reported being active on all seven. 

• The findings point to a lack of global progress over the past 15 years, with levels of physical activity among adolescents virtually unchanged since 2010. 

• No country is on track to meet the global target of a 15 per cent relative reduction in physical inactivity by 2030, and without accelerated action, adolescent inactivity is projected to remain largely unchanged for the rest of the decade, the report warns. 

• The gender gap remains strikingly persistent. Some 28 per cent of girls reported no active days, compared with 22 per cent of boys while only 11 per cent of girls reported being active every day, compared with 17 per cent of boys. 

• Girls were less active than boys in almost every country and every WHO region. 

• There were also stark differences between countries. In some, just 4 per cent of adolescents reported no active days; in others, the figure exceeded 40 per cent.

• There is no single explanation for the lack of global progress. Physical activity is shaped by where adolescents live, learn, travel and spend their free time. 

• Transport patterns, access to safe public spaces, opportunities for safe walking and cycling, school environments, affordability, social norms and increasingly screen-based lifestyles can all influence adolescents’ opportunities to be active.

• The challenge is not simply to persuade adolescents to move more. It is to create environments that make being active a normal and easy part of growing up.

• Countries need policies that make physical activity an easy, safe and accessible part of everyday life. 

• Promoting physical activity in schools, investing in safe walking and cycling routes, and creating more active communities can give young people more opportunities to move, play and be active in their everyday lives.