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Comprehension:(Que No. 36 - 41)
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Some words may be highlighted. Pay attention.
Sport is bringing some much-needed joy to the world. The Olympics and Paralympics, the Copa América, the European Football Championship, and Wimbledon are bringing excitement to millions after postponement or cancellation in 2020 (safety concerns notwithstanding). Although watching elite sport might be more stimulating than addressing modern-day sedentarism, a third Lancet Series published this week, following on from publications in 2012 and 2016, shows the importance of regular physical activity and sport to health and wellbeing. The COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it have further amplified the value of being physically active in ways that could benefit individuals and society more broadly.
Since 2001, there has been no improvement in global levels of physical activity. More than a quarter (1·4 billion) of the world's adult population were physically inactive in 2016, putting them at risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and premature mortality. However, the past decade has seen some progress. In 2018, WHO published the first global action plan for physical activity, providing an evidence-based policy framework for its promotion, with strong links to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and a global target to reduce physical inactivity by 15% by 2030.
Health benefits from physical activity are now acknowledged to include improvements in mental health, dementia, cognitive health, sleep, and preventing falls and fall-related injuries. Furthermore, physical activity is now recommended in secondary and tertiary prevention of NCDs, especially cancer, to improve quality of life and survival. The co-benefits of physical activity promotion such as improved air quality and climate change mitigation are now widely recognized. The rationale for action has widened to include non-health sectors.
Disappointingly, policy implementation and scale-up of effective physical activity interventions have been insufficient and uneven. The uptake of a multisectoral approach to physical activity has been slow because it requires cross-government collaboration and a substantial investment outside health system budgets.
Preliminary research suggests that consistently meeting physical activity guidelines is associated with a reduced risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. The pandemic provides a powerful catalyst to advocate for physical activity. Active transportation has been fostered, such as the creation of cycle lanes, open streets, and improved pedestrian infrastructure. Climate and public health communities have been calling for changes to urban design for years. Exercise during lockdowns was considered an essential activity by many governments worldwide—physical activity was seen to be as essential as food, shelter, and seeking medical care. The pandemic showed that when the need is dire enough and there is political will, action is quick. The challenge now is to maintain and accelerate such changes.
The much heightened public awareness about health presents an opportunity to focus on the benefits of being healthy rather than managing the disease. One goal should be to integrate physical activity into the way people lead their lives every day such that the physically active choices, which are often the healthier and more environmentally friendly ones, become the default. Using public transport, active travel, mandatory physical education in schools, and after-school activities are a few possibilities. By advocating levels of physical activity that people can reasonably integrate into their lives, such as walking, expectations can be managed. Set the bar too high, and people will do nothing. But with reasonable targets, they might just get moving.
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Some words may be highlighted. Pay attention.
Sport is bringing some much-needed joy to the world. The Olympics and Paralympics, the Copa América, the European Football Championship, and Wimbledon are bringing excitement to millions after postponement or cancellation in 2020 (safety concerns notwithstanding). Although watching elite sport might be more stimulating than addressing modern-day sedentarism, a third Lancet Series published this week, following on from publications in 2012 and 2016, shows the importance of regular physical activity and sport to health and wellbeing. The COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it have further amplified the value of being physically active in ways that could benefit individuals and society more broadly.
Since 2001, there has been no improvement in global levels of physical activity. More than a quarter (1·4 billion) of the world's adult population were physically inactive in 2016, putting them at risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and premature mortality. However, the past decade has seen some progress. In 2018, WHO published the first global action plan for physical activity, providing an evidence-based policy framework for its promotion, with strong links to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and a global target to reduce physical inactivity by 15% by 2030.
Health benefits from physical activity are now acknowledged to include improvements in mental health, dementia, cognitive health, sleep, and preventing falls and fall-related injuries. Furthermore, physical activity is now recommended in secondary and tertiary prevention of NCDs, especially cancer, to improve quality of life and survival. The co-benefits of physical activity promotion such as improved air quality and climate change mitigation are now widely recognized. The rationale for action has widened to include non-health sectors.
Disappointingly, policy implementation and scale-up of effective physical activity interventions have been insufficient and uneven. The uptake of a multisectoral approach to physical activity has been slow because it requires cross-government collaboration and a substantial investment outside health system budgets.
Preliminary research suggests that consistently meeting physical activity guidelines is associated with a reduced risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. The pandemic provides a powerful catalyst to advocate for physical activity. Active transportation has been fostered, such as the creation of cycle lanes, open streets, and improved pedestrian infrastructure. Climate and public health communities have been calling for changes to urban design for years. Exercise during lockdowns was considered an essential activity by many governments worldwide—physical activity was seen to be as essential as food, shelter, and seeking medical care. The pandemic showed that when the need is dire enough and there is political will, action is quick. The challenge now is to maintain and accelerate such changes.
The much heightened public awareness about health presents an opportunity to focus on the benefits of being healthy rather than managing the disease. One goal should be to integrate physical activity into the way people lead their lives every day such that the physically active choices, which are often the healthier and more environmentally friendly ones, become the default. Using public transport, active travel, mandatory physical education in schools, and after-school activities are a few possibilities. By advocating levels of physical activity that people can reasonably integrate into their lives, such as walking, expectations can be managed. Set the bar too high, and people will do nothing. But with reasonable targets, they might just get moving.
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