Activity Inequality Project

Smartphone data from over 68 million days of activity by 717,527 individuals across 111 countries reveal variability in physical activity across the world.

The variance of activity around the population mode differs between countries. Curves show distribution of steps across the population relative to the population mode. In Japan, the activity of 76% of the population falls within 50% of the mode (i.e., between white dashed lines), whereas in Saudi Arabia this fraction is only 62%. The United Kingdom and United States lie between these two extremes for average activity level and variance.

Activity inequality predicts obesity. Individuals in the five countries with highest activity inequality are 196% more likely to be obese than individuals from the 5 countries with lowest activity inequality.

Aspects of the built environment, such as walkability, may mitigate activity inequality. Higher walkability scores are associated with lower activity inequality based on data from 69 United States cities.