One in four adolescents worldwide reported not getting at least 60 minutes of physical activity on any day in the previous week, according to new global estimates released on 9 November 2026 by the World Health Organization (WHO), as detailed in a press release. The figures amount to some 240 million young people aged 11–17 years who failed to complete 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on any day in the previous week. On average, adolescents reported being active for just 2.7 days a week, while only 14% reported being active on all seven days. The findings underscore the need for safer, more accessible opportunities for young people to be active. They also point to stagnation in adolescent physical activity over the past 15 years.
The new study, published in The Lancet Global Health, draws on 389 population-based surveys from 140 countries and territories, involving more than 3.2 million adolescents. The analysis generated comparable estimates by age, sex, country and region for 2010–2025, along with projections to 2030. The estimates indicate that 86% of adolescents reported fewer than seven active days in 2025, unchanged from 2010 under the methodology used. Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, overweight and obesity, and some cancers. The findings also show that physical activity has positive impact on mental health, including a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression.
The gender gap in adolescent physical activity levels remains strikingly persistent. Twenty-eight per cent of girls reported no active days, compared with 22% of boys. Only 11% of girls reported being active every day, compared with 17% of boys. Girls were less active than boys in almost every country, and boys were more active than girls in all regions. Country-level differences were also stark, with just 4% of adolescents reporting no active days in some places, while the figure exceeded 40% in others.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, only 13.8% of adolescents reported at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on each of the previous seven days, with a marked gender gap: 17.8% of boys compared with 9.5% of girls.
“For 15 years, the world has made almost no progress in getting young people moving, and girls are being left furthest behind,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The answer is not to tell adolescents to try harder. It is to build schools, streets and communities where moving, playing and being active is safe, easy and normal.”
Transport patterns, infrastructure, urban planning, school environments, affordability, social norms, and increasingly screen-based lifestyles all shape adolescents’ opportunities to be active.
WHO is calling for stronger action across the education, transport, urban planning, sport and health sectors, alongside efforts to address the multiple barriers faced by girls. The report identifies four priority areas for action:
Countries need policies that make physical activity an easy, safe and accessible part of everyday life. The report also calls for adolescents to be involved in planning and designing policies, programmes and public spaces that respond to their needs and preferences.