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News: A new WHO-led study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal, has said that the majority of adolescents worldwide are not sufficiently physically active, putting their current and future health at risk.
Facts:
Key Takeaways:
- More than 80% of school-going adolescents (11-17years) globally did not meet current recommendations of at least one hour of physical activity per day – including 85% of girls and 78% of boys
- Across all 146 countries studied between 2001 and 2016, girls were less active than boys in all but four (Tonga, Samoa, Afghanistan and Zambia).
- 72% of boys were insufficiently active in India in 2016.
Recommendations put forward:
- Urgent scaling up is needed of known effective policies and programmes to increase physical activity in adolescents;
- Multispectral action is needed to offer opportunities for young people to be active, involving education, urban planning, road safety and others.
Additional Information
Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health
- WHO has developed the “Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health”.
- It aims at providing national and regional level policy makers with guidance on the relationship between the frequency, duration, intensity, type and total amount of physical activity needed for the prevention of Noncommunicable diseases.
- Recommendations are put forward for three age groups: 5–17 years old; 18–64 years old; and 65 years old and above.
The World Health Organization (WHO)
- The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health.
- It was established on 7th April 1948, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Every year, 7th April is celebrated as the World Health Day.
- The WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group. It has 194 member states.
Additional Reading: Khelo India, FitIndiaMovement
