Here’s some numbers from WHO to get you thinking:

1. In 2022, 1 in 8 people worldwide was obese.
2. In 2022, diabetes and kidney diseases due by diabetes caused more than 2 million deaths worldwide.
3. 19.8 million deaths in 2022 (32 per cent of global deaths that year) were because of cardiovascular diseases.
4. Non-communicable diseases claimed at least 43 million lives in 2021. These deaths accounted for 75 per cent of non-pandemic-related deaths globally.
5. Around 1.3 billion around the world experience significant disability. That’s 16 per cent of world’s population (1 in 6 of us faces this). Some die 20 years earlier (because of this) than those without disability. Moreover, those facing disability are 2x more likely to develop conditions like asthma, depression, diabetes, stroke, obesity or poor oral health.
6. Improvements in Universal Health Coverage have stagnated since 2015. Additionally, about 4.5 billion people aren’t fully covered by essential health services. For perspective, the global population is slightly over 8 billion.
7. Worldwide, more than 1 billion are at risk of falling into poverty due to out-of-pocket health spending of 10 per cent or more of their household budget.

Now that grim reminders are done, are you ready to go through the good stuff? Quite frankly, I am disappointed because more professionals should be taking these matters seriously but somehow aren’t. Anyway, on to the good stuff:

1. Just 150 minutes of moderate-high intensity activity per week can help with prevention and management of non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. That’s not even 3 hours of physical activity in a week!
2. Specific to ladies, newborn complications, post-partum depression, gestational diabetes, and gestational excessive weight gain are realities you can manage or altogether prevent from happening. All it takes is partaking in conscious, voluntary activity that you enjoy.
3. In fact, let me take it up a notch for all adults. Physical activity reduces the risk of death from any disease, complication, accident or exposure (also called all-cause mortality).

Now that all facts are in front of you, the choice is yours. Are you ready to take your health and well-being in your own hands? Or do you wish to face a reality that is way worse than any fact can state?