B2CEFRReading18 min

Reading: Global Physical Activity Trends

Wearable technology and smartwatches

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IELTS Academic Reading • Level B2 ⏱️ Estimated Time: 18 minutes

WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity & Inactivity Risks

An official analysis of global physical activity trends, health risks, and public health targets among adults and adolescents.

💡 How to Use This Lesson

🧑‍🏫 For Teachers

Give students 5 minutes to read the passage and 10 minutes to complete the 10 questions. Review answers together by checking the exact evidence quotes in the text.

🎓 For Learners

Read paragraphs A to D first to understand the main ideas of each section. Next, answer the questions in order and check your answers against the provided text quotes.

Example Pattern

"The sensor is not always exact. Even so, it gives me a good idea of how much I walk."

Passage Text

Global Physical Activity Trends & Health Risks

WHO Fact Sheet

A Adult Physical Activity

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that 31 percent of the world's adults, about 1.8 billion people, do not do enough physical activity. They do not reach the WHO advice of at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. The share went up by five percentage points between 2010 and 2022, and WHO says it could reach 35 percent by 2030.

B Adolescent Activity Levels

WHO also looks at young people. It says that one in four adolescents aged 11 to 17 reported no active days in the last week, and that is 240 million adolescents. A day counts as active when a young person does at least 60 minutes of moderate or hard activity. In total, 86 percent of adolescents had fewer than seven active days in the last week.

C Health Risks & Economic Costs

WHO says that people who are not active enough have a 20 to 30 percent higher risk of death than people who are active enough. It expects inactivity to cost public health systems nearly 300 billion US dollars between 2020 and 2030, or about 27 billion dollars a year. The global target is a 15 percent relative reduction in inactivity by 2030, compared with 2010.

D Writer's Commentary & Wearables

These facts seem to show that many people around the world move less than WHO advises, and I think the figures for young people suggest that the habit of sitting still starts early. The numbers come from surveys, and the fact sheet does not mention smartwatches or other devices, so they do not show whether a wearable device helps people to be more active.

Questions 1–2: Yes / No / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?

YES - if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO - if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN - if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1. The proportion of adults not getting sufficient physical exercise increased between 2010 and 2022.

____ YES ____ NO ____ NOT GIVEN

2. Smartwatches with heart-rate monitors are effective at encouraging teenagers to exercise more.

____ YES ____ NO ____ NOT GIVEN

Questions 3–5: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

3. According to Paragraph A, what is the recommended minimum weekly amount of moderate activity for adults?

____ a. 60 minutes of hard activity ____ b. 300 minutes of moderate activity ____ c. 150 minutes of moderate activity ____ d. 35 percentage points of activity

4. Based on Paragraph B, what proportion of adolescents recorded no active days during the surveyed week?

____ a. 86 percent of adolescents ____ b. One in four adolescents ____ c. 31 percent of adolescents ____ d. 35 percent of adolescents

5. What does the writer suggest about physical inactivity among young people in Paragraph D?

____ a. The practice of being inactive starts at an early age. ____ b. Smartwatches have already solved the issue of inactivity. ____ c. Young people prefer hard exercise over moderate exercise. ____ d. Public health systems will solve the problem by 2030.