WHO reveals what could kill 500 million people in 10 years

One of the main threats to health is hypodynamia.

People seem to have a new incentive to quit smoking and start skiing. Physical inactivity will kill nearly 500 million people in 10 years, according to the World Health Organization’s Office of Noncommunicable Diseases’ latest report on the state of physical activity in the world 2022. WHO calls on member countries to immediately change their policies regarding the promotion of an active lifestyle among the population.

If you outline the problem in large strokes, then it sounds something like this: most people know that movement is life, but the majority at the same time follow the principle “laziness is the engine of progress.” The saddest thing is that teenagers move least of all in the modern world: according to a WHO report, 81% of them are sedentary. In adults, things are slightly better with movement: only 27.5% move a little. These people’s lifestyles do not meet the WHO recommended levels of physical activity.

These data were quite enough for scientists to reach a verdict: in a decade, hypodynamia will take about half a billion lives on earth. To be more specific, the cause of death of 47% of them will be arterial hypertension developed against the background of low physical activity, and in 43% – depression (also a consequence of lack of movement). It is worth emphasizing that all these deaths are preventable.

The injustice of the mortal world also lies in the fact that approximately three-quarters of all these deaths will occur in economically underdeveloped countries. At the same time, highly developed countries will bear the largest burden of costs for the treatment of diseases that become the causes of a sedentary lifestyle. If there is no change in the current levels of sedentary lifestyles, the cost of their treatment will amount to more than 300 billion US dollars, that is, about 27 billion dollars a year. And if countries fail to find arguments to convince the population to move as much as possible, the pandemic-damaged economies will continue to burst at the seams. Health systems already full of worries will be forced to spend huge efforts on the treatment of diseases that are not so difficult to prevent.

The report notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important regular exercise is for both mental and physical health. The longer a person remains active, the less often he develops diseases that today are commonly called “diseases of old age”: cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease and many others.

Doctors again remind that the movement brings not only physical, but also mental health. And it’s never too late to start joining an active lifestyle. “Today we are talking about the fact that physical activity is useful to people until the last breath,” says Olga Tkacheva, chief freelance geriatrician of the Russian Ministry of Health. – After all, we mean not just maintaining muscle tone, which is very important for the elderly, but also memory training, prevention of diseases of the heart, blood vessels, joints. For example, it is now known that one of the main causes of falls and fractures in the elderly is physical inactivity. And the more a person moves, the less often he falls. Even rehabilitation programs after fractures and strokes set the main task of returning the patient as early as possible to the level of activity that was before. The sooner this happens, the greater the chance of a successful recovery.”

WHO has developed an evidence-based plan to increase physical activity levels, which countries should start to follow as early as 2018. However, many countries, if not ignored, then certainly carried out carelessly. The list of countries reporting the existence of a national policy on the prevention of chronic noncommunicable diseases (including the area of ​​physical activity or a separate policy on physical activity) is far from complete.

28% of countries have no policy at all, and just over half of countries report having had at least one communication campaign to raise awareness and knowledge about physical activity in the past two years. Approximately half of the countries carried out mass campaigns to agitate the population for a physically active lifestyle. Only half of the countries report having national standards requiring separate infrastructure for walking and cycling. In addition, while most countries have legislation on speed limits and drink-driving penalties, only a quarter (26%) of countries have legislation in line with WHO best practice standards.

The World Health Organization is calling on countries to be more determined in promoting healthy lifestyles. In the end, it is in the interests of all earthlings.