Harold W Kohl 3rd, Cora Lynn Craig, Estelle Victoria Lambert, Shigeru Inoue, Jasem Ramadan Alkandari, Grit Leetongin, Sonja Kahlmeier, for the Lancet Physical Activity Series Working Group*
Lancet 2012; 380: 294–305 Published Online July 18, 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(12)60898-8
This is the fifth in a Series of five papers about physical activity
*Members listed at end of paper University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston School of Public Health, and University of Texas at Austin Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, Austin, TX, USA (Prof H W Kohl 3rd PhD); Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada, and School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia (C L Craig MSc); UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa (Prof E V Lambert PhD); Tokyo Medical University, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Tokyo, Japan (Prof S Inoue MD); Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Health Sciences Center—Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait (J R Alkandari PhD); National Health Security Offi ce, Bangkok, Thailand (G Leetongin MD); and Physical Activity and Health Unit, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland (S Kahlmeier PhD) Correspondence to: Dr Harold W Kohl 3rd, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston—School of Public Health, Austin Regional Campus, Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, Austin, TX 78701, USA harold.w.kohl@uth.tmc.edu

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. We summarise present global eff orts to counteract this problem and point the way forward to address the pandemic of physical inactivity. Although evidence for the benefits of physical activity for health has been available since the 1950s, promotion to improve the health of populations has lagged in relation to the available evidence and has only recently developed an identifi able infrastructure, including efforts in planning, policy, leadership and advocacy, workforce training and development, and monitoring and surveillance. The reasons for this late start are myriad, multifactorial, and complex. This infrastructure should continue to be formed, intersectoral approaches are essential to advance, and advocacy remains a key pillar. Although there is a need to build global capacity based on the present foundations, a systems approach that focuses on populations and the complex interactions among the correlates of physical inactivity, rather than solely a behavioural science approach focusing on individuals, is the way forward to increase physical activity worldwide.

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