WHO report: one in four adolescents reported no active days in a week, with activity unchanged since 2010

One in four adolescents worldwide reported not getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity on any day in the previous week, according to new global estimates the World Health Organization (WHO) released on Wednesday, as reported by UN News.

The estimates come from self-reported surveys. The WHO report, "A generation missing out: Global trends in adolescent physical activity, 2010-2025," draws on 389 population-based surveys from 140 countries and territories, involving more than 3.2 million adolescents. On average, adolescents reported being active on 2.7 days a week, and 14 per cent reported being active on all seven. In 2025, 86 per cent of adolescents reported fewer than seven active days, a share that has not changed since 2010.

The report finds levels of activity among adolescents virtually unchanged over those 15 years. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world has made almost no progress in getting young people moving, and that girls are being left furthest behind. He added that the answer is not to tell adolescents to try harder, but to build schools, streets and communities where moving, playing and being active is safe, easy and normal.

The gap between girls and boys is persistent. Some 28 per cent of girls reported no active days, compared with 22 per cent of boys. Only 11 per cent of girls reported being active every day, compared with 17 per cent of boys. Girls were less active than boys in almost every country and every WHO region. Countries also differ sharply: in some, 4 per cent of adolescents reported no active days, while in others the share exceeded 40 per cent.

No country is on track to meet the global target of a 15 per cent relative reduction in physical inactivity by 2030. Without accelerated action, the report projects that adolescent inactivity will remain largely unchanged for the rest of the decade. WHO notes that physical inactivity is a major risk factor for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, which is why it considers it critical to help young people develop active habits early in life.

WHO said there is no single explanation for the lack of progress. Transport patterns, access to safe public spaces, opportunities for safe walking and cycling, school environments, affordability, social norms and increasingly screen-based lifestyles can all shape adolescents' opportunities to be active. The organization called for stronger action across the education, transport, urban planning, sport and health sectors, alongside efforts to tackle the barriers girls face, including promoting physical activity in schools and investing in safe walking and cycling routes.

The estimates rest on what adolescents reported about their own week, as gathered in the surveys behind the WHO report.