title: Progress in physical activity over the Olympic quadrennium.
abstract: On the eve of the 2012 summer Olympic Games, the first Lancet Series on physical activity established that physical inactivity was a global pandemic, and global public health action was urgently needed. The present paper summarises progress on the topics covered in the first Series. In the past 4 years, more countries have been monitoring the prevalence of physical inactivity, although evidence of any improvements in prevalence is still scarce. According to emerging evidence on brain health, physical inactivity accounts for about 3·8% of cases of dementia worldwide. An increase in research on the correlates of physical activity in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) is providing a better evidence base for development of context-relevant interventions. A finding specific to LMICs was that physical inactivity was higher in urban (vs rural) residents, which is a cause for concern because of the global trends toward urbanisation. A small but increasing number of intervention studies from LMICs provide initial evidence that community-based interventions can be effective. Although about 80% of countries reported having national physical activity policies or plans, such policies were operational in only about 56% of countries. There are important barriers to policy implementation that must be overcome before progress in increasing physical activity can be expected. Despite signs of progress, efforts to improve physical activity surveillance, research, capacity for intervention, and policy implementation are needed, especially among LMICs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA. Electronic address: jsallis@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sallis
authors.affiliation: Center for Built Environment and Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bull
authors.affiliation: Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases Department, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guthold
authors.affiliation: Department of Health & Human Performance and Medicine, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Heath
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Physical Activity for Health Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, College of Medical Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria; Physical Activity, Sport and Recreation Research Focus Area, Faculty of Health Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
authors.forename: Adewale L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Oyeyemi
authors.affiliation: UCSD/SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health (Global Health), San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Lilian G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health & Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pedro C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hallal
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D011203:Poverty; D011634:Public Health