Despite the awareness of the benefits of physical activity for physical and mental health, levels of inactivity continue to increase in the world. Physical inactivity is one of the main health problems in the world. France is not spared.
Fight against the “pandemic” of physical inactivity
In 2022, 31.3 % of the world's population was inactive, compared to 23.4 % in 2000 and 26.4 % in 2010. Adolescents are particularly affected, since, around the world, 80 % of 11-17 year olds do not practice the sixty minutes of moderate activity with vigorous daily. Globally, physical inactivity would be responsible for 4 to 5 million deaths each year, a lost life every six to eight seconds.
In France, the situation is similar. A France public health report published in September 2024 shows that activity levels remain insufficient, especially in women, children, adolescents and disadvantaged populations. According to the French Health Safety Agency (ANSES), 95 % of adults are exposed to a risk to health due to a lack of physical activity and a time that is too long spent seated (or sedentary lifestyle).
To fight against this “pandemic” of inactivity and achieve the objective of the World Health Organization (WHO) which aims to reduce inactivity by 15 % by 2030, it is essential to better understand all the factors that influence physical activity. Among them, the role of the built environment and social factors deserves special attention.
Note that the built environment (or Environmentin English) designates all the spaces built or modified by the human being, in which people live, work, move and interact. It includes buildings (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.), transport infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, cycle paths, public transport), or even public spaces (squares, urban parks, sports facilities).
The built environment and social factors: determining elements
Physical activity does not only depend on individual motivation, but results from a set of influences, ranging from personal characteristics to public policies.
The ecological model, inspired by the work of Kurt Lewin, maintains that human behavior is built at the intersection of the individual and his environment. This approach joins the concept of ” affordance From Gibson (or “action opportunities”) which shows how the properties of an environment can facilitate or slow down certain actions.
The modern ecological model, often associated with Bronfenbrenner, specifies this idea by identifying five levels of interconnected influence: the intrapersonal level (individual factors such as age or motivations), interpersonal level (social relations and family support), organizational level (schools, sports clubs), community level (town planning, infrastructure) and political level (regulations, investments public).
As applied to physical activity, this model highlights the central role of the built environment. It is now supported by a set of international evidence. Adequate infrastructures – such as cycle paths, sidewalks, and green spaces – promote physical activity in various contexts (mobility, leisure, work/school, home).
Conversely, the absence of appropriate equipment or an environment dominated by infrastructure promoting sedentary liability limits these opportunities. The ecological model also highlights the interactions between different levels; For example, a motivated cyclist can be discouraged if the cycle paths seem dangerous, or a person wishing to swim can give up this activity if the nearest pool is too far away.
Disparities to the detriment of disadvantaged areas and rural environments
Social inequalities exacerbate these disparities. The privileged districts generally have modern, accessible and secure sports infrastructure, while the disadvantaged areas are faced with many obstacles: aging infrastructure, lack of dedicated spaces and a feeling of insecurity.
These conditions particularly discourage groups that feel more insecure, that is to say women, children and the elderly. In addition, these inequalities are also manifested between urban and rural areas. In rural areas, although natural spaces exist, the absence of specific developments and long distances to infrastructure limit the opportunities for physical practice.
Understand the natural trend to minimize the effort
The theory of the minimization of effort in physical activity (tempa) postulates that human beings have a natural tendency to avoid non -necessary physical efforts. This mechanism, deeply anchored at the biological level, influences the way in which we interact within our environments.
This trend has evolving roots: in a distant past where energy conservation was crucial for survival, minimizing the effort made it possible to optimize the available resources, thus improving the chances of survival and reproduction.
However, in our modern societies where sedentary lifestyle is omnipresent, this mechanism for minimizing effort, formerly advantageous, now becomes a risk factor for health. We tend to be attracted by activities that are not very demanding from an energy point of view, such as the use of motorized means of transport or sedentary leisure as watching television.
The development of our living and work spaces reinforces this trend. Technologies facilitate household chores, thus reducing opportunities to move, while motorized transport encourage inactivity, even for short distances.
Finally, in the professional and school framework, of unclosed environments, with fixed offices, do not promote physical activity. For example, in France, according to our calculations, a student would spend the equivalent of a whole year (nights included), in a sitting position. This observation challenges. The sedentary opportunities are omnipresent, and this legacy of evolution encourages us to indulge in it naturally, which makes the maintenance of regular physical activity difficult for many.
In other words, the crucial role of environments should not be overlooked in the explanation of our behavior, which are not only governed by rational processes, but also by more automatic or spontaneous mechanisms.
In fields other than physical activity, the proliferation of fast foods or financial crises in the United States, for example, can largely explain, respectively, the increase in obesity rates or household savings difficulties, as Loewenstein recalls. Likewise, it would be reducing to consider these phenomena only as questions of individual motivation.
Associate physical activity with pleasant and motivating experiences
The theoretical framework of the smallest effort offers an innovative approach to design public health interventions which promote physical activity and reduce sedentary time, by adopting a double strategy: to make physical activity the default behavioral option and guarantee a positive experience from its practice. By reducing the accessibility of equipment which involves a low energy expenditure, for example mechanical stairs, we can encourage more active behavior. However, this approach alone is not enough to ensure a lasting commitment.
And, moreover, it is essential that the environments remain fully suited to people with reduced mobility or with other specific needs. But the options that limit physical activity should not be those that are made accessible by default.
It is also essential to associate physical activity with pleasant and motivating experiences, in particular by adjusting the intensity of the effort or the integration of positive stimuli, such as music and pleasant natural environments, to increase perceived pleasure and reduce the feeling of effort.
The effectiveness of these strategies depends on a contextual approach and adapted to the specificities of different life environments. In addition, it is essential to consider sociospatial inequalities, because access to infrastructure, as well as the motivation of people to use these infrastructures vary according to living conditions. Targeted interventions are necessary to guarantee a fair accessibility and the promotion of positive affective experiences, especially for vulnerable populations.
Rethink the development of spaces and access to sports structures
It is necessary to go beyond the idea that physical inactivity results only from an individual lack of motivation. Rethinking the development of spaces, regulating accessibility to sports infrastructure and integrating physical activity into public policies constitute decisive levers to combat physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle.
This paradigm change, which integrates our tendency into the slightest effort and the ecological model, opens the way to fairer and effective interventions, especially among the most vulnerable populations.
