Sports can push our young out of torpor

India is unfit. A Lancet Global Health study published this week reveals that half of our adult population doesn't meet WHO guidelines for sufficient physical activity. They get less than 150 mins of moderately-intense activity, 75 mins of vigorous-intensity activity, or an equivalent combination, per week. Such a sedentary lifestyle puts adults at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes, Type 2 diabetes, dementia, and breast and colon cancers. But as far as incentives go, warnings haven't been much useful. They are either seen as applicable to 'other people', or as 'first world' concerns. It's time to take a different tack.

Physical activity regimes are usually conducted sporadically, if at all. Increasingly for our young, it's on par with 'Eat your greens', something that gets little traction outside adult surveillance. Instead, why not approach the problem through the more seductive means of competitive sports? India is showing its sporting prowess beyond cricket, throwing up role models for youngsters to emulate. Add the catalyst of 'fun' - instead of duty - and sports can provide the perfect push to get young people out of their sedentary habits - and their heads out of smartphones. On their part, schools must inculcate the 'gymnasium' approach to treating bodies on par with minds. For this to take root, parents must realise that playing sports isn't a waste of time. Infrastructure - fields, parks, pools - must be accessible and affordable.

Benefits of physical activity are immense: improved mental health and building defence against diseases, especially as Indians are genetically more prone to non-communicable diseases. Our growing physical prowess should match our growing affluence. The generational change can start now.