Sports companies rally to call for activity after WHO shares new data
New data on inactivity that the World Health Organisation (WHO) published at the end of June has led to a renewed call from the sports industry for people to become more active.
Earlier this year, in a report it worked on with consultancy group McKinsey, trade association the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) said rising levels of physical inactivity constituted one of the most important challenges the sports product industry is facing.
The report called for this to change and for public authorities to do all in their power to encourage people to engage more frequently and more fully in sport and outdoor activity.
WFSGI and a number of its most prominent member companies issued a renewal of this call on seeing the new data from WHO.
The new findings are that 31% of adults worldwide are now failing to meet recommended levels of physical activity. The recommended level for adults is 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
By 2030, if this trend in inactivity continues, WHO has said the proportion of adults failing to meet the recommended level will be 35%.
Another message that jumps out from the new WHO data is that there are widening gaps in participation based on age and sex. Women are less active than men by at least 5% after 60 years of age.
It said it would publish later this year new data on activity among adolescents but that it is already clear that 81% of these young people are not taking part in enough physical activity to maintain good health.
WHO also said that the cost of treating health conditions that are preventable by engaging in a more active lifestyle will exceed $300 billion by 2030.
Companies that have joined WFSGI in supporting an urgent call for action include adidas, Amer Sports, ANTA, ASICS, Decathlon, Li-Ning, New Balance, Nike, On, Pentland Brands, Puma, Under Armour and many others.
