One in four adolescents worldwide does not get at least 60 minutes of physical activity on any day of the week, with girls significantly less active than boys, according to a new global study that highlights concerns about the physical and mental health of young people.
The researchers assessed the number of active days per week and average activity levels by sex, age, country and year. Separate models were fitted for boys and girls. The study found that most low- and middle-income regions had a higher proportion of adolescents reporting no physical activity and lower average activity levels. In contrast, high-income western, central and eastern Europe and Central Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific had fewer adolescents reporting zero to two active days, more reporting three or more active days, and small improvements over time.
In 2025, around 240 million adolescents, or 24.9% of those aged 11-17, reported no active days in a week, while overall physical activity levels have remained largely unchanged over the past 15 years, according to the study published in The Lancet Global Health. “The finding that 24.9% of adolescents report no active days highlights a crucial and often overlooked dimension of adolescent health. The study pooled analysis of 389 surveys with 3.2 million participants from 140 countries, updated global estimates of adolescent physical activity and assessed progress towards the 2030 target. It analysed data from 389 surveys covering 3.2 million adolescents aged 11-17 across 140 countries, representing 59% of the global adolescent population. “In 2025, adolescents worldwide averaged just 2.7 active days per week, with only 14% active every day. The percentage reporting fewer than seven active days per week has not changed since 2010, and no country is on track to meet the 2030 global target,” the study said.
Addressing this challenge will require more targeted, context-specific approaches that prioritise those who are least active, alongside population-wide action to address the social, cultural, and environmental barriers to participation, particularly among girls,” the authors said.
“While improved measurement can strengthen data systems and support more targeted policy approaches, the primary challenge remains translating known solutions into equitable and sustained action effectively implemented at scale. Without this progress, global physical activity targets—and the broader goal of improving adolescent health—will remain out of reach,” they added.
