A recent report has revealed that governments worldwide are at risk of incurring more than $27 billion annually due to citizens not getting enough exercise.
The WHO provided data that reveals cases of dementia, diabetes, and high blood pressure are predicted to increase drastically by 2030. The data also showed that regular exercise reduces health risks by almost 30%.
The WHO is encouraging governments to urge their citizens to adopt healthier lifestyles to combat lifestyle-related diseases. Around 7-8% of cardiovascular diseases, dementia, and depression can be combated with regular exercise.
Even though the benefits of physical activity are seemingly obvious, the WHO has never explicitly reached out to governments to implore them to encourage citizens to change their lifestyles.
The WHO discovered that less than 50% of the 194 countries covered in the report have a clear national policy with regard to healthy living, and such policies are not always fully operational.
According to the WHO, type 2 diabetes, stroke, dementia, depression, and some cancers will account for 499,208 million new cases of preventable, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health conditions.
More than 40% of these cases will pop up in lower-middle-income nations such as Bangladesh, Kenya, and India. The report, released on Tuesday, also states that 43% of the new cases would result from depression and another 50% from hypertension (high blood pressure).