The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, a threshold that 35.4% of Europeans do not reach, due to their lack of practice of sport.
- 45% of adults in Europe say they never exercise or play sports.
- The Covid-19 pandemic has made the situation worse: if the confinements have led some to do more sport, the opposite effect has occurred for the majority.
- If all Europeans respected the activity levels recommended by the WHO, more than 10,000 premature deaths of people aged 30 to 70 could be avoided each year.
More than one in three adults in the European Union do not do enough sport, a trend aggravated by the health crisis which has adverse effects on public health, underlines Friday a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Health Organization (WHO) relayed by Agence France Presse (AFP). In 2016, 35.4% of adults in the 27 EU Member States were insufficiently active according to WHO criteria, which recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week.
Sport: 45% of adults in Europe say they never do it
Just under half (45%) say they never exercise or play sports, according to this WHO and OECD report. Lack of physical activity is also widespread among adolescents, especially girls: only 17.6% of boys and 9.6% of girls report respecting the WHO recommendation of at least one hour of physical activity moderate to vigorous daily. And it doesn’t get better with age: only a quarter of adults over 55 practice a sport or exercise at least once a week.
Women are also less active than men. The gender imbalance is obvious between 15 and 24 years old: 73% of men practice sports or exercise at least once a week, compared to 58% of women. Socioeconomic status also has an influence: only 24% of people who say they are working class say they exercise at least once a week, compared to 51% of people who consider themselves to be from a wealthier social category. .
Lack of physical activity: the Covid-19 crisis has worsened the situation
The Covid-19 pandemic has made things worse: if the confinements have led some to do more sport, the opposite effect has occurred for the majority. More than half of Europeans have reduced their activity and only 7% plan to do more physical activity once the pandemic is behind them, according to the study.
However, if everyone respected the activity levels recommended by the WHO, more than 10,000 premature deaths of people aged 30 to 70 could be avoided every year. Life expectancy would increase by 7.5 months for people who are insufficiently active. In addition, EU Member States would save 0.6% of their health budgets, according to this report.
