Road to 5**﹕Insufficient physical activity
【明報專訊】◆Source A
Worldwide commonness in insufficient physical activity (see the table)
◆Source B
According to a report by the World Health Organisation of the United Nations, 37 percent of people living in affluent countries do not exercise sufficiently, while the percentages for middle- and low-income countries are 26 percent and 16 percent respectively. The report also points out that insufficient physical activity ''is the main risk factor for non-contagious diseases (such as dementia and coronary diseases) and affect mental health and quality of life negatively.''
In high-income countries such as Britain and the US, the proportion of people not exercising sufficiently rose from 32 percent in 2001 to 37 percent in 2016. Regina Guthold, lead author of the report, says that the lifestyle in high-income countries is characterized by long hours indoors, long working hours, a propensity to consume high-calorie food and lower level of physical exercise, which affect health.
Source: “WHO report: over one-fourth of adults do not exercise sufficiently”, published in Ming Pao on 6 September 2018
■Questions and answering guidelines
1. Identify the patterns for insufficient exercise as shown in Source A.
The first pattern is that people living in high-income countries or regions tend to exercise insufficiently. According to the source, the percentages of people not exercising enough were over 35 percent in high-income countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the Western world, which was higher than the international average of 27.5 percent and the percentages in the other regions. In other words, there is a link between high income and insufficient physical exercise.
The second pattern is that insufficient exercise is a phenomenon that can vary widely within the same region. In East Asia and Southeast Asia, the percentage was 17.3 percent, but it was nearly 40 percent in the Philippines, the country with the highest percentage in the region, which was four times that of Cambodia (which had the lowest percentage in the region). The same phenomenon can also be seen in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, with the percentage for Kuwait five times higher than that of Jordon. Kuwait even has the world's highest percentage of insufficient physical exercise.
2. ''High-income countries are faced with more obstacles than low-income countries when trying to promote healthy lifestyle.'' Do you agree?
Agree﹕
Technology advances more rapidly in high-income countries, and people's incomes are higher. Citizens have fewer chances to expend energy. For example, as the rate of car ownership is high, people tend to walk less. On the other hand, most of these countries rely on the service industry. People expend less energy that than those living in countries that depend on agriculture and industry.
Disagree﹕
People in high-income countries have higher living standards. They do not have to worry too much about job security and law and order, and have more room to exercise. The better infrastructure in these countries also makes exercise easier.
Text ：劉錦輝, liberal studies teacher at Christian and Missionary Alliance Sun Kei Secondary School
Translation: Terence Yip
[通通識 第560期]
