Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 380, Issue 9838, 21–27 July 2012, Pages 294-305
The Lancet

Series
The pandemic of physical inactivity: global action for public health

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60898-8Get rights and content

Summary

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. We summarise present global efforts to counteract this problem and point the way forward to address the pandemic of physical inactivity. Although evidence for the benefits of physical activity for health has been available since the 1950s, promotion to improve the health of populations has lagged in relation to the available evidence and has only recently developed an identifiable infrastructure, including efforts in planning, policy, leadership and advocacy, workforce training and development, and monitoring and surveillance. The reasons for this late start are myriad, multifactorial, and complex. This infrastructure should continue to be formed, intersectoral approaches are essential to advance, and advocacy remains a key pillar. Although there is a need to build global capacity based on the present foundations, a systems approach that focuses on populations and the complex interactions among the correlates of physical inactivity, rather than solely a behavioural science approach focusing on individuals, is the way forward to increase physical activity worldwide.

Section snippets

The pandemic of physical inactivity should be a public health priority

Theoretically, prioritisation for public health action is informed largely by three factors: the prevalence and trends of a health disorder; the magnitude of the risk associated with exposure to that disorder; and evidence for effective prevention and control. A practice or behaviour that is clearly related to a health disorder, is prevalent, and is static or increasing in its prevalence should be a primary target for public health policy for disease prevention and health promotion. Too often,

Overview

Physical activity promotion to improve the health of populations, rather than individual behaviours, has only had an identifiable infrastructure since 2000. The reasons for this late start are myriad and complex. First, there is a perception, albeit incorrect, that the science base for physical activity and health has lagged behind other important issues such as tobacco use and diet. Second, as a result of a grafting of exercise science to public health science, the specialty of physical

Beyond behavioural science to public health

The key question is why progress in physical activity promotion as a public health issue has been less developed than that in other public health areas? The pandemic of inactivity spans the world and economic development and social transitions portend a likely increase in the prevalence of inactivity and the incidence of non-communicable diseases for years to come, particularly in countries with low and middle incomes. The response to physical inactivity has been incomplete, unfocused, and most

Call to action

As part of the International Society for Physical Activity and Health, GAPA36 works to strengthen advocacy, dissemination, and capacity around physical activity promotion and policy. GAPA was instrumental in developing the 2009 Toronto Charter, a ten-point action plan for global promotion of physical activity74 and resource materials to guide action.75 The Charter has been translated into 17 languages with seven more forthcoming. Such products are intended to guide national agendas, to

Conclusions

Physical inactivity is pandemic, a leading cause of death in the world, and clearly one of the top four pillars of a non-communicable disease strategy. However, the role of physical activity continues to be undervalued despite evidence of its protective effects and the cost burden posed by present levels of physical inactivity globally. There is an urgent need to build global capacity. Although progress has been made in policy and planning, leadership and advocacy, workforce training, and

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