A strong signal for more physical activity: the Hamburg Declaration

With the Hamburg Declaration, a strong political signal for increasing physical activity and sport among the population was sent at the Sports, Medicine and Health Summit 2021. Major organizations, scientific societies, and sports federations joined forces in a global alliance and committed themselves to concrete measures to promote physical activity. At the SMHS 2025, the Hamburg Declaration was renewed, reaffirming and further developing this joint commitment in order to place an even stronger focus on the importance of physical activity for both health and society.

The severe health consequences of physical inactivity have been well known for years. A global study published in 2018 found, for example, that more than one quarter of the world’s population is already not sufficiently physically active, and the trend continues to rise. The proportion of physically inactive individuals has also increased in Europe, while developing countries are rapidly catching up. In Germany, around 42% of the population is affected by physical inactivity, and sedentary behavior among German men has increased by 15.6% over the past 15 years.

Despite isolated political efforts, including the German Prevention Act of 2015 and more recently the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity, the global trend toward inactivity has not yet been significantly reduced or reversed.

For many years, renowned scientific societies and organizations have therefore urged political leaders worldwide to assign higher priority to promoting physical activity and to create the necessary structures enabling stakeholders in sport, health, and medicine to successfully implement measures that encourage physical activity. In addition, better networking between organizations, associations, scientific societies, and political institutions is essential to leverage synergies and to efficiently, sustainably, and widely implement best‑practice examples. A global alliance against physical inactivity is needed.

At the Sports, Medicine and Health Summit 2021, the “Hamburg Declaration” aims not only to send a public signal against physical inactivity. On the one hand, the document includes a commitment by leading organizations, scientific societies, and sports federations to undertake concrete measures and efforts to combat inactivity, forming the foundation of a joint alliance. On the other hand, the “Hamburg Declaration” calls on national and international policymakers to join this global alliance and commit to concrete structural measures.

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