Get active, Thais told
Thais spend more than half the day; over 13 hours on average 'doing very little' and only two hours of physical activity, a recent survey by the Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research has found.
If the trend does not reverse, the population will continue to be plagued by obesity and other health problems, the researchers said.
“In fact, people should engage themselves in physical activity at least six hours a day,” Public Health Minister Pradit Sinthawanarong said yesterday.
According to the survey, Thais sleep 8.2 hours on average and are physically idle for more than five additional hours each day.
Pradit said a strategy has been drawn up to promote physical activities for people such as walking and bicycling.
“They should do such activities on a daily basis.”
The strategy would include good routes for walking and bicycling. It aims to raise the ratio of people with adequate physical activity in their lives from 10 per cent to 76 per cent by 2014.
Pradit was speaking in his capacity as deputy chair of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
