One in Four Adolescents Get No Active Days in a Week, Global WHO Study Finds

One in four teenagers worldwide goes an entire week without a single day of sufficient physical activity, raising concerns about their long-term health. New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that approximately 240 million adolescents are not getting even one day of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week.

Published in The Lancet Global Health, the study analysed data from hundreds of population-based surveys across 140 countries and territories, involving more than 3.2 million adolescents aged 11 to 17 years.

Researchers examined how many days participants achieved at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, such as brisk walking, cycling, running or playing sports.

The findings revealed that 25% of adolescents reported no days meeting this activity threshold during the previous week.

Overall, teenagers were active for an average of just 2.7 days per week, while only 14% reported achieving the threshold on all seven days.

Importantly, researchers identified substantial differences between boys and girls.

Approximately 28% of girls reported no active days, compared with 22% of boys. Only 11% of girls achieved daily activity, compared with 17% of boys.

The study also revealed considerable differences between countries.

Around 40% of adolescents in Namibia, Nepal and the Philippines reported no active days, while more than 30% of adolescents in Bangladesh and Serbia reported daily physical activity.

WHO highlighted that adolescent physical activity levels have remained largely unchanged over the past 15 years.

The organisation warned that insufficient physical activity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.

Researchers emphasised that physical activity is influenced by access to safe recreational spaces, school environments, transport systems and screen-based lifestyles.

WHO stressed that supporting regular physical activity during adolescence is important for establishing lifelong healthy habits and reducing future chronic disease risks.

REFERENCE: Strain T, Flaxman SR, Ricardo LIC, Guthold R, Riley LM, Cowan M, et al. National, regional, and global trends in adolescent physical activity from 2010 to 2025: A pooled analysis of 389 surveys with 3.2 million participants from 140 countries. Lancet Global Health. 2026; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langlo.2026.104099.