When the COVID19 pandemic arrived, the closure of businesses, leagues, gyms and schools led to a decrease in the time spent doing physical activity. It is normal, it was necessary to manage the health emergency and limit the damage of the pandemic at this time.
Now that the acute phase of the pandemic has passed, it is essential to move on to the next step: work to reduce the collateral effects of the pandemic.
A recent study assessed that the level of physical activity worldwide has not yet returned to 2019 levels.
The researchers used anonymous data from individuals who used a health and wellness app on a smart phone. The data included over 1,25 million users from 200 different countries.
Azumio Argus app users took an average of 5323 steps per day in 2019.
This number dwindled to less than 4000 in the spring of 2020 and has yet to fully recover since, as the following graphs show:
Compared to 2019, North America is doing quite well. North Americans take about 4% fewer steps than in 2019.
The problem is that it was already not enough in 2019.
North Americans took about 5000 steps a day in 2019, while Europeans took more than 6500.
So more needs to be done.
- More to counter the sedentary lifestyle
- More to help our young people move more
- More to find a new life balance in this new normal
Basically, it's time to practice.
- It's time to help a friend you used to run with to start over;
- It's time to call your old soccer teammate and suggest they start playing with you again;
- It's time to invite your friend Karine to come for a hike with you;
- It's time to help someone try rock climbing;
- It's also time to propose a program like the Corporate Challenge to your business;
- Now is the time to help each other move more, while respecting our limits and our desires;
- It's time to realize theother epidemics that are currently rampant: diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Whatever so that physical activity take its place in our lives.
Because moving is good for brain, body and heart!
