Nearly 240 million adolescents worldwide failed to achieve even one day of recommended physical activity during the previous week, highlighting a persistent public health challenge that has seen little improvement in 15 years. According to new global estimates released by the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately one in four adolescents aged 11 to 17 years did not complete at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on any day of the preceding week. On average, adolescents reported meeting this activity threshold on just 2.7 days per week, while only 14% achieved it every day.

The findings, published in The Lancet Global Health, draw on 389 population-based surveys involving more than 3.2 million adolescents across 140 countries and territories. Despite growing awareness of the health consequences of sedentary lifestyles, physical activity levels in this age…