US scientists have gathered a global picture from people’s mobile phones to see how active we really all are.

A recent study by Stanford University analyzed 68 million days’ worth of minute-by-minute data showed the average number of daily steps was 4,961 globally.

Hong Kong was top averaging 6,880 a day, while Indonesia was bottom of the rankings with just 3,513.

But the findings also uncovered intriguing details that could help tackle obesity.

The findings have been published in the journal Nature and the study authors say the results give important insights for improving people’s health.

The average number of steps in a country appears to be less important for obesity levels, for example.

The key ingredient was “activity inequality” – it’s like wealth inequality, except instead of the difference between rich and poor, it’s the difference between the fittest and laziest.

The bigger the activity inequality, the higher the rates of obesity.

Tim Althoff, one of the researchers, said: “For instance, Sweden had one of the smallest gaps between activity rich and activity poor… it also had one of the lowest rates of obesity.”

Hong Kong was top averaging 6,880 a day, while Indonesia was bottom of the rankings with just 3,513.

Is too much sun a reason to be lazy perhaps? You decide.

Original Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40570442
Original Study: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature23018.html

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