A recent report in Nature Medicine, which analysed data from 68 countries, shows that physical activity levels have remained stagnant over the past two decades despite policy recommendations and mounting awareness. Some cold facts substantiate this. More than five million deaths per year are attributed to physical inactivity. About 1 in 3 adults and 8 out of 10 adolescents do not meet the World Health Organization’s recommended guidelines, which are 150 minutes of weekly and 60 minutes of daily physical activity, respectively. The findings in Nature reveal an uncomfortable truth: physical activity, long believed to be a universal right, is shaped by social privilege. The opportunity to move, rest, or exercise depends heavily on class, gender, geography, and infrastructure. A 40% gap exists between who gets to be active through leisure or free time — wealthy men in rich economies — and those who do not — disadvantaged women in poor economies. For millions living in overcrowded cities, leisure is a luxury squeezed among exhausting commutes, precarious living, and back-breaking labour. Another paper in Nature Health demonstrates the poor implementation of physical activity policies — 26.5% of countries with policy documents did not include measurable targets to assess their effectiveness. Worse, newer constraints have clouded the horizon. Yet another paper in Nature Health has linked altered physical activity rates to changing climate. This is especially significant for lower-middle-income countries, which constitute about 84% of the global population and are acutely vulnerable to climate change. India, which is an LMIC, must take note. The 2026 Time Use Survey showed that only 1 in 10 Indians exercised on a given day in 2024, the majority of them men. Taken together, the data reveal that leisure, undoubtedly, is undemocratic: it is a political question.
Modern life in the developing world compounds the problem. Cities are designed for vehicles, not pedestrians. Footpaths are encroached upon, parks shrink under real-estate pressure, and cycling lanes remain a matter of luxury. The challenge is to democratise physical activity. Public policy must treat exercise as a civic necessity. Metropolises need infrastructure that is exercise-friendly. Workplaces, too, should encourage movement instead of sedentary work modes. Women and marginalised communities should have access to safe public spaces. Burgeoning immobility is a reflection of society’s unequal distribution of critical rights and resources.