Researchers have stated that obesity can be linked with a new measure called the activity inequality ratio of a society.
Activity inequality has been linked differences in obesity across societies
Since a long time, we've linked the food pattern of the society with the trends in obesity that they've shown. But a recent study has revealed a hidden dimension to the obesity problem, namely 'Activity Inequality'. This is the average activity that people who live in a society perform in a day. "If you think about some people in a country as 'activity rich' and others as 'activity poor,' the size of the gap between them is a strong indicator of obesity levels in that society," explains bioengineer Scott Delp from Stanford University.
But there is a major problem on depending on a data calculated as an average. It has been found that a few people exercise a lot and drag the average up by themselves and consequently hiding the larger inactive section in plain view.
The final data showed that in countries with little obesity, people tended to walk about the same amount each day and majority of them performed some physical activity. But in other countries, the gap between those who walked regularly and those who didn't was a very wide, thus obesity was a widespread concern.
Gender is also an important factor in determining the inequality ratio. The same amount of activity deficiency has much worse effects for women. "When activity inequality is greatest, women's activity is reduced much more dramatically than men's activity," says one of the team, computer scientist Jure Leskovec, "and thus the negative connections to obesity can affect women more greatly."
The global average step count was found to be 5000 steps a day. The only thing left in our power is to exercise more and try to solve the obesity crisis by simply starting to walk.
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