The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that over 80% of children don’t get enough exercise, while almost 30% of adults across the globe fail to meet the recommended minimum amount of physical activity, making them prone to preventable chronic diseases.
Scientists from the Opole University of Technology in southwest Poland, as well as Czech and Slovak universities, are conducting the project on increasing physical activity.
The project’s coordinator, Prof. Anna Rutkowska from the Department of Physiotherapy at the Opole University, said: “Unfortunately, lifestyle changes have led to new behaviors related to a sedentary lifestyle.
“There is a great global need to disseminate knowledge and activate every social group to ensure a minimum of physical activity, which includes a health component. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted this problem,” she added.
In the project, the researchers took a closer look at the physical activity of students from the three countries participating in the study. Slovakia showed the highest median physical activity, while Poland had the lowest.
According to the researchers, the overall level of physical activity has not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels.
The results of the scientists' work include the publication of a book in English, which is a compendium of knowledge about movement therapy. "A Guide to Physical Activity" has already been received in electronic form by every student and employee of the Opole University of Technology.
It contains a set of specially selected exercises that can be performed at home, including aerobic and calming breathing exercises. Each exercise contains a comprehensive description and photos.
According to scientists, there will be almost 500 million new cases of preventable chronic diseases worldwide between 2020 and 2030. Treatment of these will cost over €284 billion.
Almost half of these new cases will be due to hypertension, and over 40% to depression. According to experts, some of them could be avoided through physical activity.
