A recent study found that Indians are among the most inactive and lazy in the world; preferring to drive rather than walk whenever possible. We look at what the study found about the laziest and the least lazy people in the world as well as the reasons to admire our jugad-ability (jugaad being the ability finding a low-cost solution to any problem in an intelligent way).
This is demonstrated by our marked reluctance to devote time to physical fitness and our desire to take any mode of transport that does not involve walking and cycling. A 46 country survey by Stanford University researchers seemed to corroborate this fact.
The study relied on data drawn from step counter apps available in smart phones. The walking activities of about 7 lakh people were tracked and Indians came in at no.39 among all the countries surveyed.
The Americans – notorious for driving everywhere in their big gas guzzlers – walk more than us Indians; an average of 4,774 steps a day. The countries seen to be at the top were Hong Kong, China, Ukraine and Japan who walk about 6,000 steps a day.
The study found that Indonesia is the worst in this sense; people there walk just 3,513 steps a day. We keep company with Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, who were actually found to be even lazier than us!
While Indian men walk about 4,606 steps a day, women only take about 3,684 steps a day. The implications of this for obesity among Indians, is very significant.
One could argue that this so called study is not representative of the average Indian, who is required to walk long distances each day by necessity and one would be right. This data was obtained form a privileged few with the resources and access to smart phones and mechanized transport. For a majority of Indians extensive physical activity is not just a reality, but a necessity. Sometimes it isn't even possible to walk to where one wants to go…is it any wonder that India is witness to some of the most innovative modes of transport the world has seen?
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