A report from the World Health Organization indicated that nearly 500 million people will suffer from heart diseases, obesity, and diabetes due to physical inactivity between 2020 and 2030, with an associated cost of $27 billion annually, unless governments take urgent measures to encourage activity and exercise among populations. The report, published on the "Lancet" magazine's website, is the first of its kind to measure the global state of physical activity and its impact on health and healthcare costs.
The report relied on data from 194 countries, showing overall slow progress in developing and implementing policies aimed at increasing physical activity and reducing the burden of diseases on already strained health systems. The data revealed that fewer than half of the countries have established a national policy for physical activity, and less than 40% of them know how to implement it. The report noted that only 30% of countries provide national guidelines for physical activity for all age groups, while 75% of countries monitor physical activity among adolescents, and fewer than 30% monitor physical activity in children under 5 years old.
