American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume 34, Issue 6 , Pages 486-494 , June 2008

Worldwide Variability in Physical Inactivity: A 51-Country Survey

  • Regina Guthold, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion, Geneva, Switzerland
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to: Regina Guthold, MPH, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
    • ,
  • Tomoko Ono, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Harvard School of Public Health Department of Population and International Health, Boston, Massachusetts
    • ,
  • Kathleen L. Strong, PhD

      Affiliations

    • World Health Organization, and UNITAID International Drug Purchase Facility, Geneva, Switzerland
    • ,
  • Somnath Chatterji, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Measurement and Health Information Systems, Geneva, Switzerland
    • ,
  • Alfredo Morabia, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Queens College City University of New York, Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, New York, New York

References 

  1. Bull FC, Armstrong TP, Dixon T, et al. Physical Inactivity. In:  Ezzati M,  Lopez A,  Rodgers A, et al. editor. Comparative quantification of health risks (Global and regional burden of disease attributable to selected major risk factors). Volume 1:Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2004;
  2. WHO. Preventing chronic diseases: a vital investment. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2005;
  3. Bauman AE. Updating the evidence that physical activity is good for health: an epidemiological review 2000–2003. J Sci Med Sport. 2004;7(Suppl 1):S6–S19
  4. WHO. Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2004;
  5. WHO Global InfoBase website. www.who.int/infobase.
  6. Booth M. Assessment of physical activity: an international perspective. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2000;71(2S):S114–S120
  7. Brown WJ, Bauman A, Chey T, et al. Comparison of surveys used to measure physical activity. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2004;28:128–134
  8. Haase A, Steptoe A, Sallis JF, et al. Leisure-time physical activity in university students from 23 countries: associations with health beliefs, risk awareness, and national economic development. Prev Med. 2004;39:182–190
  9. Rütten A, Abu-Omar K. Prevalence of physical activity in the European Union. Soz Praventivmed. 2004;49:281–289
  10. Sjöström M, Oja P, Hagströmer M, Smith B, Bauman A. Health-enhancing physical activity across European Union countries: the Eurobarometer study. J Public Health. 2006;14:291–300
  11. Varo JV, Martínez-González MA, de Irala-Estévez J, et al. Distribution and determinants of sedentary lifestyles in the European Union. Int J Epidemiol. 2003;32:138–146
  12. Armstrong T, Bonita R. Capacity building for an integrated noncommunicable disease risk factor surveillance system in developing countries. Ethn Dis. 2003;13(2S):S13–S18
  13. World Health Survey Home Page. www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/en/index.html.
  14. Moussavi S, Chatterji S, Verdes E, Tanden A, Patel V, Üstün B. Depression, chronic diseases, and decrements in health: results from the World Health Surveys. Lancet. 2007;370:851–858
  15. Üstün TB, Chatterji S, Mechbal A, et al. The World Health Surveys. In:  Murray CJL,  Evans DB editor. Health systems performance assessment: debates, methods and empiricism. Geneva Switzerland: WHO; 2003;
  16. International Physical Activity Questionnaire website. www.ipaq.ki.se.
  17. Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Whitt MC, et al. Compendium of physical activities: an update of activity codes and MET intensities. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000;32(S):S498–S504
  18. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. World urbanization prospects: the 2003 revision. New York: United Nations; 2004;
  19. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) website. apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp.
  20. Blake M, Chaudhury M, Deverill C, et al. Health survey for England 2003, Volume 2: Risk factors for cardiovascular disease. In:  Sproston K,  Primatesta P editor. Health Survey for England 2003. Norwich United Kingdom: Her Majesty's Stationery Office; 2004;
  21. Popkin BM, Gordon-Larsen P. The nutrition transition: worldwide dynamics and their determinants. Int J Obes. 2004;28(3S):S2–S9
  22. Galan I, Rodriquez-Artalejo F, Tobias A, Gandarillas A, Zorrilla B. Risk factors surveillance for noncommunicable disease through telephone survey (Results in the autonomous community of Madrid from 1995–2003). Gac Sanit. 2005;19:193–205
  23. Pudule I, Grinberga D, Villabi JR, et al. Health behaviour among Latvian adult population, 2002. Helsinki Finland: National Public Health Institute (KTL); 2003;
  24. Muntner P, Gu D, Wildman RP, et al. Prevalence of physical activity among Chinese adults: results from the International Collaborative Study of Cardiovascular Disease in Asia. Am J Public Health. 2005;95:1631–1636
  25. Ainsworth BE, Macera CA, Jones DA, et al. Comparison of the 2001 BRFSS and the IPAQ physical activity questionnaires. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006;38:1584–1592
  26. Hallal PC, Azevedo MR, Reichert FF, et al. Who, when, and how much? (Epidemiology of walking in a middle-income country). Am J Prev Med. 2005;28:156–161
  27. Hallal PC, Matsudo SM, Matsudo VK, et al. Physical activity in adults from two Brazilian areas: similarities and differences. Cad Saude Publica. 2005;21:573–580
  28. Hallal PC, Victora CG, Wells JC, et al. Physical inactivity: prevalence and associated variables in Brazilian adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35:1894–1900
  29. Ministère de la Santé et de l'Hygiène Publique. Enquête sur les facteurs de risque des maladies non transmissibles, Côte d'Ivoire, Régions sanitaires des Lagunes, 2005. Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: Ministère de la Santé et de l'Hygiène Publique; 2005;
  30. Armstrong T, Bull F. Development of the World Health Organization Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). J Public Health. 2006;14:66–70
  31. STEPS website. www.who.int/chp/steps.
  32. Pivarnik JM, Reeves MJ, Rafferty AP. Seasonal variation in adult leisure-time physical activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35:1004–1008
  33. Shephard RJ. Limits to the measurement of habitual physical activity by questionnaires. Br J Sports Med. 2003;37:197–206
  34. Ekelund U, Sepp H, Barge S, et al. Criterion-related validity of the last 7-day, short form of the International Physical Activity questionnaire in Swedish adults. Public Health Nutr. 2006;9:258–265
  35. Rzewnicki R, Vanden Auweele Y, de Bourdeaudhuij I. Addressing over-reporting on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) telephone survey with a population sample. Public Health Nutr. 2003;6:299–305
  36. WHO Global InfoBase team. Surveillance of chronic disease Risk Factors: The SuRF Report 2 (Country-level data and comparable estimates). Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2005;
  37. Ben Romdhane H, Achour N. Prevalence des cardiopathies ischemiques dans la population generale: resultats d'une étude populationnelle EPCI, 2000–2001. Tunis, Tunisia: L'Institut National de Santé Publique; 2003;
  38. Rahman M, Meerjady SF, Akter SFU, Hossain S, Mascie-Taylor CGN. Behavioural risk factors of noncommunicable diseases in Bangladesh. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR); 2004;
  39. Torun B, Stein AD, Schroeder D, et al. Rural-to-urban migration and cardiovascular disease risk factors in young Guatemalan adults. Int J Epidemiol. 2002;31:218–226
  40. Sallis JF, Saelens BE. Assessment of physical activity by self-report: status, limitations, and future directions. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2000;71(2S):S1–S14
  41. Vanhees L, Lefevre J, Philippaerts R, et al. How to assess physical activity? (How to assess physical fitness?). Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2005;12:102–114
  42. Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjöström M, et al. International Physical Activity Questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35:1381–1395
  43. Brown WJ, Trost SG, Bauman A, Mummery K, Owen N. Test-retest reliability of four physical activity measures used in population surveys. J Sci Med Sport. 2004;7:205–215
  44. Qu NN, Li KJ. Study on the reliability and validity of international physical activity questionnaire (Chinese version, IPAQ). Chinese Journal of Epidemiology. 2004;25:265–268
  45. Rütten A, Ziemainz H, Schena F, et al. Using different physical activity measurements in eight European countries (Results of the European Physical Activity Surveillance System (EUPASS) time series survey). Public Health Nutr. 2003;6:371–376
  46. Duncan GE, Sydeman SJ, Perri MG, et al. Can sedentary adults accurately recall the intensity of their physical activity?. Prev Med. 2001;33:18–26
  47. Kwan M, Woo J, Kwok T. The standard oxygen consumption value equivalent to one metabolic equivalent (3.5 ml/min/kg) is not appropriate for elderly people. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2004;55:179–182
  48. Matsudo V, Matsudo S, Andrade D, et al. Promotion of physical activity in a developing country: the Agita Sao Paulo Experience. Public Health Nutr. 2002;5:253–261
  49. Willett WC, Koplan JP, Nugent R, Dusenbury C, Puska P, Gaziano TA. Prevention of chronic disease by means of diet and lifestyle changes. In:  Jamison DT,  Breman JG,  Measham AR, et al. editor. Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries. 2nd Edition. New York, Washington DC: Oxford University Press and The World Bank; 2006;
  50. WHO. A guide for population-based approaches to increasing levels of physical activity (Implementation of the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health). Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 2007;

 The full text of this article is available via AJPM Online at www.ajpm-online.net; 1 unit of Category-1 CME credit is also available, with details on the website.

PII: S0749-3797(08)00257-2

doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2008.02.013

American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume 34, Issue 6 , Pages 486-494 , June 2008

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution