World Health Organization Says Filipino Youth Are 2nd Most Inactive Worldwide
FILIPINO YOUTH – According to the World Health Organization, the Filipino youth takes 2nd place in overall physical inactivity prevalence.
In their recent study, it revealed that the youth of the Philippines had a physical inactivity prevalence of 93.4%. This made the country rank 2nd in the list of most inactive youths worldwide.
The country that took the first place was South Korea. Their youth had a physical inactivity prevalence rate of 93.4%.
The study conducted by WHO had over 1.6 million teens being surveyed. This was also done in 146 countries.
If we took the results separately between males and females, the results shown become worse for the Philippines. It revealed that Filipino males were ranked the most inactive at 92.8% and females the second, at 94.1%.
The author of the study, Regina Guthold, said there are many reasons for physical inactivity. One of the main factors was the increase in mobile phone usage.
Another factor that she deemed important was the lack of public places where citizens can be active. These could include parks and other sporting facilities.
It’s not the individuals (who) are to be blamed. It’s more often society, the environment that makes them— forces them almost—to be inactive
Dr. Regina Guthold
Along with this, she added that strong political leadership is needed to raise awareness on this issue. She also added that we need to improve the education sector to integrate more physical activity into classes.
Finally, she said that being physically inactive bares a lot of consequences. Some of these include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, colon, and breast cancer.
With this, WHO recommends a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity per day. Activities like walking, biking, or jogging are great starters.
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