Global study finds teen exercise stagnant

The World Health Organization recommends that adolescents engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. A new study published in The Lancet Global Health indicates that only a small fraction of teenagers worldwide meet this standard.

The report analyzes data from over 3 million adolescents across 140 countries collected over the last 15 years. Globally, only about 14% of children reported getting an hour of exercise daily. The average adolescent reported fewer than three such days per week. Fiona Bull, head of the physical activity unit at the World Health Organization and a co-author of the study, described the findings as disappointing. She noted that trends have remained flat over the past 15 years. Bull stated that the data serves as a call to reevaluate current strategies, adding that business as usual will not change these trends.

Gender and income levels heavily influenced the results. Girls were less active than boys in nearly every country surveyed. Nearly 30% of girls reported zero days of physical activity during the week, compared to 22% of boys. Only 11% of girls were active daily, while 17% of boys met that mark. The weekly average for active days was 2.4 for girls and 3 for boys. Adolescents in lower- and middle-income countries also reported lower activity levels than those in wealthier Western nations.

Andrea Ramirez Varela, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, attributed the disparity in lower-income regions to a lack of opportunity. She explained that environments in many of these countries restrict activity. Varela noted that in Latin America, parents often view it as unsafe for children to walk alone. She added that urban areas are frequently not designed to be walkable and that air pollution can make outdoor activity unhealthy. She also pointed to screen time as a factor, stating that adolescents often remain sedentary after school because they are in front of a screen.

Solveig Cunningham, a global health researcher at Emory University, highlighted the early onset of the gender gap. She explained that different cultural norms drive the divergence. In some regions, such as India, taboos around girls engaging in physical activity emerge at puberty. Cunningham noted that mothers or grandmothers may discourage girls from spending time outside due to concerns about skin tone affecting marriage prospects. She observed that while girls in places like South Asia are active through chores, this differs from the intense play often seen in boys.

Experts suggest that schools offer a practical setting for intervention. Varela stated that moving the needle requires focusing on the settings where children spend most of their time. Data indicates that countries with higher adolescent exercise levels tend to have more structured time for sport during or after the school day. Building such programs could help close the gap if they remain accessible and affordable. Varela warned that not solving the problem during adolescence will perpetuate it into adulthood, where the costs to physical and mental health increase.

The study relies on self-reported survey data because equipping millions of children with tracking devices would be costly. Researchers asked participants how many days in the past week they were active for at least 60 minutes. The findings underscore the need for sustained attention from policymakers to redesign cities and support school-based programs.