Lok Sabha Question No. 167 (STARRED), answered on 2024-08-02
Subject: Physically Unfit Adult Population
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Rajesh Ranjan, Shri Ramprit Mandal

## GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE

## LOKSABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 167 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 2 ND AUGUST, 2024

## PHYSICALLY UNFIT ADULT POPULATION

## *167 SHRI RAJESH RANJAN: SHRI RAMPRIT MANDAL:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government agrees with WHO's recent report which states that half of India ' s adult population is physically unfit, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether it is a fact that as per this report, if this remains unchecked, 59.9 per cent of adults in the country are likely to be unfit by 2030 and will be exposed to major risk of many diseases;
- (c) whether the Government has taken note of this; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)

- (a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 167 FOR 2 ND AUGUST, 2024

(a) to (d) WHO defines ' sufficient physical activity ' as 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activities per week (brisk walk, lifting light load etc.) or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity per week (running, digging, construction work, outdoor games etc.). The activity level so quantified is based on a self-reported response to questions about physical activity lasting at least for 10 minutes.

The National NCD Monitoring Survey of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 2020 has assessed, inter alia, physical activity amongst Indian adults and found that 58.7% had conformed to the WHO recommendations.

ICMR in another study entitled 'Physical activity and inactivity patterns in India -results from the ICMR-INDIAB Study (Phase 1) [ICMR-INDIAB-5] ' conducted in 2014 has found that 54.4% of the sampled adult population were insufficiently physically active. The study findings were based on the data collected from three States (Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand) and an UT (Chandigarh).

Based on this ICMR-INDIAB Study (Phase 1) data, WHO in collaboration with Lancet published an article entitled ' National, regional and global trends in insufficient physical activity among adults from 2000 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 507 population based surveys with 5.7 million participants ' and reported enhanced prevalence of insufficient physical activity among Indians between 2000 (22.3%) and 2022 (49.4%). WHO relied on the data collected only from 3 States and one UT and extrapolated results through a modelling technique indicating inbuilt methodological issues. The projections to 2030 are also based on extrapolations and modelling.

WHO in its Global Status Report on Physical Activity 2022 studied the prevalence of insufficient physical activity among adults aged 18+ years. Inactivity among adults is high in many high-income countries including USA (33.7%), Canada (37.2%) and Japan (44.7%).

The Government of India focuses on health promotion and awareness generation through countrywide movements like ' Fit India Movement ' where people are encouraged to remain healthy and fit. Many activities for healthy living including physical activities are also promoted through the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD).

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