An ecosystems approach for health-enhancing physical activity promotion: introducing the 11th Conference of HEPA Europe

Physical inactivity is responsible for over 5 million premature deaths every year. Around 20\0\ women are less active than men, and inactivity is higher in older age groups and in high-income countries.1 There has been clear evidence for the benefits of physical activity for health for decades, but few countries have been successful at increasing population levels of activity, and physical inactivity is still a leading risk factor for premature mortality worldwide. Achieving a breakthrough requires a systems approach that combines individual-level behaviour change approaches with upstream policy actions to focus on populations, the drivers of physical activity and inactivity and the interactions between them across complex systems.2