• physical activity

Coinciding with the WHO’s 70th World Health Assembly in Geneva (22–31 May), the WHO launched the process to develop a new Global Action Plan to promote physical activity.1 This development could not come at a more critical time for global health.

The Assembly heard that progress on reducing the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is significantly off track, and the target to reduce physical inactivity, a key risk factor for NCDs, is far from being achieved. With physical inactivity a rising global concern from Europe, North and South America, to Asia, Australasia and increasingly Africa,2 the development of a new Global Action Plan should be welcomed by physical activity advocates, practitioners, policy makers and scientists everywhere. The Global Action Plan is a new opportunity to enable a step change in the approach to using evidence-based policy across geographies, environments and communities and different populations.

This moment matters to the physical activity and health community. It reflects years of advocacy and campaigning and is a testament to an increase in volume and quality of research into basic, clinical …