As per a report published by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) about 54.4% of people in India are physically inactive, among which men are significantly more active than women. It is the most common phenomenon found during a study by this government agency.
While the report by United Nations agency does not contain any specific data of India, the ICMR report shows that physical inactivity is very common in India. Most people find that a tough work schedule is not letting them to indulge in any kind of physical activity, which eventually leads them to non-communicable diseases.
However, people don't spend much active minutes while commuting and recreation domains as much as spent at work. In fact, lesser than 10% of people in the country are engaged in recreational physical activity. Four out of five adolescents, aged between eleven and seventeen, and one in five adults have been found globally to not indulging in enough physical activity.
Death and high disease burden is being increasingly led by physical inactivity. According to the latest report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), it shows that the physical inactivity is costing $54 billion in direct healthcare.
"Being active is important for health. But in our modern world, staying active is becoming a challenging role to play, largely because our cities and communities are not designed in the right ways," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general at WHO on Monday while launching its global action plan on physical activity.
He also said that to treat and prevent non-communicable diseases like stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and colon and breast cancer, it is crucial to do regular activity. "We need leaders at all levels to help people take healthier steps. This works best at city level, where most responsibility lies for creating healthier spaces," added Tedros.
As per WHO, there are different ways under which physical activity can be taken, which includes around home and at workplace. The inactivity can be reduced by doing more cycling, walking, dance, play, sport and active recreation.
