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In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) set an ambitious goal<\/a>: reduce the global physical inactivity rate by 10 per cent compared with 2010 levels by 2025. Well, the deadline has finally arrived \u2013 and, despite numerous public health campaigns and efforts to capitalise on the sporting excitement of multiple Olympic Games, people are moving less than ever.<\/p>\n The latest data<\/a>, from 2022, indicates that 31 per cent of adults worldwide aren\u2019t meeting physical activity guidelines, a 5-percentage-point increase from 26 per cent in 2010. Among teens, the numbers are worse: a staggering 81 per cent<\/a> aren\u2019t moving enough. We\u2019re not just missing targets \u2013 we\u2019re slipping further behind on them.<\/p>\n So, what went wrong? From public health policy to urban design issues, there are numerous, complex ways to critique current strategies. However, some experts are taking a step back to ask a more fundamental question: have we been promoting physical activity all wrong this whole time?<\/p>\n For years, public health campaigns have relied heavily on the \u201cexercise is medicine\u201d narrative to promote physical activity. We have all heard it time and again: get active if you want to prevent illnesses like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is a message based on strong scientific evidence<\/a>, and you would think that the promise of good health is the best possible motivator.<\/p>\n However, Benjamin Rigby, a public health researcher at Newcastle University in the UK, and his colleagues argue in a recent opinion article<\/a> that framing movement solely as a way to prevent disease oversimplifies why people choose to be active. \u201cThe truth is, people move<\/a> for so many more reasons that have nothing to do with avoiding illness,\u201d says Rigby. \u201cWe want to play, to laugh, to explore, to dance, [and] feel proud of ourselves. Ultimately, to have fun and feel good.\u201d Excluding these other, positive motivations from public health messaging could be why people aren\u2019t connecting with it.<\/p>\n A growing number of studies support this idea of shifting the spotlight away from health-focused narratives. When researchers from the University of Edinburgh in the UK analysed<\/a> 123 studies on physical activity messaging, they concluded that health reasons aren\u2019t necessarily what motivate people to get off the couch. The most effective messages highlight the short-term rewards of being active \u2013 like feeling good, reducing stress or having fun with friends \u2013 not the threat of illness decades down the line.<\/p>\n What might messaging that focuses on the immediate benefits of physical activity look like in a campaign? Some researchers<\/a> suggest phrases like \u201ca little movement for a little mood improvement\u201d to highlight mental well-being, or \u201cphysical activity is an opportunity to connect with others\u201d to capture social-based motivations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Robust evidence<\/a> also shows that people are more likely to stay active when it\u2019s fun. Enjoyment is linked to young people consistently participating in sports<\/a>. And remember Pok\u00e9mon GO? That craze had its most engaged users walking an extra 1473 steps a day<\/a> on average, just because they were excited to \u201ccatch \u2019em all\u201d. Given the evidence, why haven\u2019t public health messages aligned more closely with motivations centred on enjoyment?<\/p>\n Sticking to health-based narratives has a strong appeal to institutions. Their effects are more measurable, and they fall neatly within the serious tone we expect from official messages. But with the next 2030 target of reducing physical inactivity by 15 per cent from 2010 levels looming, this is the moment for radical change. It\u2019s time to stop prescribing physical activity as a bitter pill and start selling it as an opportunity for fun, exploration and connection.<\/p>\n Dawn Teh is a freelance health writer based in\u00a0Australia<\/p>\n Topics:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) set an ambitious goal: reduce the global physical inactivity rate by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[1167,6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-50487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-exercise","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}