Final Post Congress 5 December 2016

We the delegates and hosts of the 6th International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health, the biennial meeting of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health (ISPAH), with representatives from 72 countries and held in Bangkok, Thailand, and ISPAH members: 

1. Recognise physical activity includes all forms of human movement and active living, including walking, exercise as well as sport, and is a natural behaviour that confers many benefits. 

2. Endorse the urgency of addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, numerous cancers, respiratory disease, dementia and poor mental health, which contribute to a significant burden of premature death, disease and disability and associated social and economic burdens to all countries. 

3. Reaffirm that physical inactivity is one of the key modifiable risk factors for NCDs and is a cornerstone strategy for reducing the burden of NCDs, as articulated in the WHO Global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs, 2013–2020. 

4. Draw attention to the high levels of inactivity globally and the inequalities across the life course in those meeting the WHO Global Recommendations on Physical Activity, especially relating to gender, disability and regional and socioeconomic disparities. 

5. Note the key role that reducing inactivity has to play in contributing to global strategies such as the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (2016), Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025), New Urban Health Agenda (Habitat III), Mobilizing Sustainable Transport for Development (2016), Every Woman Every Child (2010), and the forthcoming WHO Global Action Plan on Dementia (draft 2015). 

6. Emphasise that actions to provide supportive environments that reduce physical inactivity provide cobenefits and can also significantly reduce healthcare costs, increase economic productivity and provide effective return on investments in sectors such as transport and tourism. 

7. Highlight that the drivers of physical inactivity are linked to societal and environmental …