The global physical inactivity pandemic: an analysis of knowledge production

In July 2012, The Lancet announced a pandemic of physical inactivity and a global call to action to effect change. The worldwide pandemic is said to be claiming millions of lives every year. Asserting that physical inactivity is pandemic is an important moment. Given the purported scale and signific...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sport, education and society education and society, 2016-02, Vol.21 (2), p.131-147
Main Authors: Piggin, Joe, Bairner, Alan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Athletics
Discourse
Exercise
Government Role
Governmentality
Health
Health Promotion
Health risk assessment
Knowledge Level
Knowledge Management
Pandemic
Pandemics
Physical Activities
Physical activity
Physical Activity Level
Physical fitness
Policy
Risk
Systems Approach
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Summary:In July 2012, The Lancet announced a pandemic of physical inactivity and a global call to action to effect change. The worldwide pandemic is said to be claiming millions of lives every year. Asserting that physical inactivity is pandemic is an important moment. Given the purported scale and significance of physical inactivity around the world, this research examines how the pandemic is rhetorically constructed and how various solutions are proposed. We apply a governmentality perspective to examine the continuity, coherence and appropriateness of ideas about physical activity. The analysis demonstrates that within The Lancet, there is disunity about what is known about physical activity, problematic claims of 'abnormality' and contradictions in the proposed deployment of a systems approach to solve the problem. The article concludes by suggesting that as knowledge produced about physical activity grows, scholars need to beware of nostalgic conceptions of physical activity, account for the immense diversity of lived experiences which do not abide by idealistic recommendations and consider more rigorously contentious claims about physical activity programme effects.
ISSN:1357-3322
1470-1243
DOI:10.1080/13573322.2014.882301