One in four teenagers worldwide gets no physical activity in a week, WHO warns

Nearly one in four adolescents worldwide does not engage in any physical activity during an entire week, raising concerns about the growing risk of lifestyle-related diseases among young people, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.

The WHO's latest global estimates found that 25 per cent of adolescents aged 11 to 17 reported having no active days in the seven days preceding the survey. An active day was defined as one involving at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

The findings, published in The Lancet Global Health, are based on hundreds of population-based surveys conducted across 140 countries and territories, covering more than 3.2 million adolescents.

Extrapolating the findings to the global population, the WHO estimated that around 240 million young people do not engage in any physical activity during a week.

On average, adolescents included in the study reported being physically active on just 2.7 days a week. Only 14 per cent said they achieved the recommended activity level on all seven days.

The WHO cautioned that a lack of physical activity during adolescence could increase the risk of several serious health conditions later in life.

"Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers," the global health agency said.

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

The organisation also expressed concern over the lack of improvement in adolescent activity levels, saying they had remained "virtually unchanged" over the past 15 years.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the prolonged lack of progress was particularly concerning for girls, who remain less physically active than boys across most parts of the world.

"For 15 years, the world has made almost no progress in getting young people moving, and girls are being left furthest behind," he said.

The gender divide was evident in the latest estimates. Around 28 per cent of girls reported no physically active days during the previous week, compared with 22 per cent of boys.

The gap was also visible among those who exercised every day. Only 11 per cent of girls reported being active on all seven days, against 17 per cent of boys.

Physical activity levels also varied considerably between countries. In Namibia, Nepal and the Philippines, around 40 per cent of adolescents reported having no active days during the week.

In contrast, more than 30 per cent of young people in Bangladesh and Serbia reported engaging in physical activity every day, according to the estimates.

The WHO said improving adolescent fitness required more than simply encouraging individuals to exercise. It called for changes in public spaces, schools and communities to make physical activity a routine part of everyday life.

"The answer is not to tell adolescents to try harder. It is to build schools, streets and communities where moving, playing and being active is safe, easy and normal," Tedros said.

The agency pointed to several factors influencing activity levels, including transportation choices, access to recreational spaces and the availability of safe routes for walking and cycling.

School environments, social expectations and lifestyles increasingly dominated by screen-based activities were also identified as factors affecting how much exercise young people get.

"Countries need policies that make physical activity an easy, safe and accessible part of everyday life," the WHO said.