In its new report, the WHO and the OECD found an increase in the proportion of European adults who did not not enough regular physical activity. According to this new European survey, 45% of European inhabitants do not practice sport and this non-practice of sport would lead to millions of preventable and non-communicable diseases. To support this observation, the two world organizations released a report titled ” A small effort ! Let’s lighten the burden of lack of physical activity in Europe »to show how physical activity can prevent thousands of deaths and avoid billions of expenses (source 1).
WHO recommends regarding 150 minutes of physical activity per weekwhich might save nearly 10,000 lives each year. The lack of physical activity concerns especially women especially adolescents: only 17.6% of boys and 9.6% of girls adhere to the time recommended each day by the WHO. As they grow older, the gap between the sexes increases: between the ages of 15 and 24, 73% of men practice sports at least once a week, compared to 58% of women of the same age. Moreover, socioeconomic condition also influences: only 24% of people who consider themselves to be working class say they exercise at least once a week, compared to 51% of people who consider themselves to belong to a wealthier social category.