• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

And the world's laziest countries are ...

SocialD

DP Veteran
Joined
Dec 20, 2015
Messages
2,467
Reaction score
716
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Libertarian - Right
And the world's laziest countries are ...

---findings of a study by Stanford University researchers using step-counters installed in most smartphones to track the walking activity of about 700,000 people in 46 countries around the world.---

This is interesting because according to this Stanford study the people who walk the least are southeast Asians. Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia are 3 of the bottom 4 of who walks the most. I find this hard to believe. I see people walking everywhere in those countries.

The article is novel to look over but the study is either saying that how much you walk must not be very relative to how fit people are or the study is flawed. I am going to go with the study is flawed.
 
Interesting
“In cities that are more walkable, everyone tends to take more daily steps, whether male or female, young or old, healthy weight or obese,” Hicks said.

I aim for 7000 a day on my Fitbit

Canada is only marginally higher than the US
 
Interesting


I aim for 7000 a day on my Fitbit

Canada is only marginally higher than the US

I would say outside of downtown Toronto or Montreal, Canada is definitely not walkable.
 
no?

why would you say that?

The rural areas are definitely not walkable and in smaller cities and suburbs things are still so spread out walking is not really viable. If you leave downtown Montreal or the inner suburbs, things become unwalkable very fast.
 
The rural areas are definitely not walkable and in smaller cities and suburbs things are still so spread out walking is not really viable. If you leave downtown Montreal or the inner suburbs, things become unwalkable very fast.

I'd say there's a whole lot of rural Canadians who would disagree with you.

I've watched a ton of TimberGiantBigfoot videos where he is walking out in the woods. :shrug:
 
I'd say there's a whole lot of rural Canadians who would disagree with you.

I've watched a ton of TimberGiantBigfoot videos where he is walking out in the woods. :shrug:

If in town it is walkable as the town will be compact. Farm rural walking to town would take hours.

Some newer suburbs are making walking easier to corner stores. But to walk to the nearest large grocery store is a 30 minutes fast walk. At minus 20 or 30 walking becomes very unpleasant
 
If in town it is walkable as the town will be compact. Farm rural walking to town would take hours.

Some newer suburbs are making walking easier to corner stores. But to walk to the nearest large grocery store is a 30 minutes fast walk. At minus 20 or 30 walking becomes very unpleasant

I'm just talking walking for health reasons, not walking to town. ;)
 
I'd say there's a whole lot of rural Canadians who would disagree with you.

I've watched a ton of TimberGiantBigfoot videos where he is walking out in the woods. :shrug:

Hiking =/= walkability. Walkabilty is how easy it is to get places and do everyday tasks within a reasonable walking distance. If you want to do anything in rural, suburban, or even a small city in Canada you pretty much have to drive to do it. As such really only exists in high density urban cores in North America sadly. Even for hiking walking near my hometown is quite boring with really only one path unless you really want to get arrested for trespassing.
 
This is interesting because according to this Stanford study the people who walk the least are southeast Asians. Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia are 3 of the bottom 4 of who walks the most. I find this hard to believe. I see people walking everywhere in those countries.

Having been to those countries its not surprising that people dont walk much over there- its insanely hot and humid! I remember my first time in Bangkok, the moment I stepped out of the hotel the waves of heat hit me like a microwave oven.

I dont think the term lazy ought to be applied since people stay indoors when living in humid climes. They dont walk for a reason.
 
And the world's laziest countries are ...

---findings of a study by Stanford University researchers using step-counters installed in most smartphones to track the walking activity of about 700,000 people in 46 countries around the world.---

This is interesting because according to this Stanford study the people who walk the least are southeast Asians. Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia are 3 of the bottom 4 of who walks the most. I find this hard to believe. I see people walking everywhere in those countries.

The article is novel to look over but the study is either saying that how much you walk must not be very relative to how fit people are or the study is flawed. I am going to go with the study is flawed.

The only people who have step counters in the southeast Asia counties are the tech guys.
 
Having been to those countries its not surprising that people dont walk much over there- its insanely hot and humid! I remember my first time in Bangkok, the moment I stepped out of the hotel the waves of heat hit me like a microwave oven.

I dont think the term lazy ought to be applied since people stay indoors when living in humid climes. They dont walk for a reason.

that's a really good point because while their steps are less they do not carry much body fat

they are not lazy nor are they massive calorie consumers compared to the west
 
The rural areas are definitely not walkable and in smaller cities and suburbs things are still so spread out walking is not really viable. If you leave downtown Montreal or the inner suburbs, things become unwalkable very fast.

hm fair enough, I was only viewing it more from a daily movement perspective

7000 steps is considered just barely active

this whole step thing and what is active, healthy, and weight loss threshold was based upon a study done with I believe Mennonites when step counters first came into vogue

it's been a while since I researched this...likely more than a dozen years but they wondered why a group of people who were frequently quite fat and ate a post WWll diet had low rates of heart problems and were quite healthy generally speaking

they found the men most farmers or farm labourers usually walked an average of 18,000 steps and the women I think around 12,000

my lifestyle is quite sedentary compared to how I grew up: I lived in a small town 25,000, we had no car, I walked to school, walked to my after school job which took me further from my home than the school which was likely a good 20 min. walk, I worked for 3 hours as a tray girl at a hospital and then I walked home. If it was a Friday night I then walked to meet my friends and then we walked to where ever we were going. Sometimes we got a lift home, most times we walked.

We were rake thin and ate everything in sight, as a teen I never once had restraint at the table. In our whole high school there were likely a few dozen obese kids...they were the exception, not the norm.

Walking matters.

Now I have to make an effort.
 
The only people who have step counters in the southeast Asia counties are the tech guys.

Well everyone has a phone pretty much at least in the cities, but I agree with you most people there would never download a pedometer app.
 
Having been to those countries its not surprising that people dont walk much over there- its insanely hot and humid! I remember my first time in Bangkok, the moment I stepped out of the hotel the waves of heat hit me like a microwave oven.

I dont think the term lazy ought to be applied since people stay indoors when living in humid climes. They dont walk for a reason.

Still though I know you have seen that there are tons of people walking every day. If they work they are going to do a lot of walking usually. I think its what pirate said. not many in SE asia would be using that app.
I sure as hell walk quite a bit more every time ive went to Manila. Even if I had a car there I wouldn't want to deal with the city traffic.
 
Last edited:
I'd say there's a whole lot of rural Canadians who would disagree with you.

I've watched a ton of TimberGiantBigfoot videos where he is walking out in the woods. :shrug:

I'm about as rural as you can get and stay on the grid, and I walk a lot more here than I would in any city. Dodging the crowds, stopping every block, gasping in the exhaust fumes, no thanks. I'm about six klicks from the store and I'll walk it in good weather (but I'll probably accept the offer of a ride on the way home!).
 
The rural areas are definitely not walkable and in smaller cities and suburbs things are still so spread out walking is not really viable. If you leave downtown Montreal or the inner suburbs, things become unwalkable very fast.

I disagree. I'm rural and I walk a lot more here than I would in any city. I've been away from the rat race for I forget how long and when I go back there I stay off the sidewalks as much as I can. It's crowded, noisy, smells bad and the whole scene makes me anxious.
 
I'm about as rural as you can get and stay on the grid, and I walk a lot more here than I would in any city. Dodging the crowds, stopping every block, gasping in the exhaust fumes, no thanks. I'm about six klicks from the store and I'll walk it in good weather (but I'll probably accept the offer of a ride on the way home!).

I had you in mind when I said that. :mrgreen:
 
i shoot for 10k steps a day, and get there more often than not. walking is my favorite exercise, and i really like my fitbit.
 
I disagree. I'm rural and I walk a lot more here than I would in any city. I've been away from the rat race for I forget how long and when I go back there I stay off the sidewalks as much as I can. It's crowded, noisy, smells bad and the whole scene makes me anxious.

I'm with you 100%. Lived in the GTA for years, but was born and raised in the country...so glad to be back in it. And yes, it is wonderful to hike, but not practical for much more than pleasure...living in the country means my commute is a 45 minute car ride. No bus option to even get close to work with to then walk the rest of the way...thankfully we have a lot of great trails to get exercise on nearby...with can of bear repellent, of course...hehe
 
I'm with you 100%. Lived in the GTA for years, but was born and raised in the country...so glad to be back in it. And yes, it is wonderful to hike, but not practical for much more than pleasure...living in the country means my commute is a 45 minute car ride. No bus option to even get close to work with to then walk the rest of the way...thankfully we have a lot of great trails to get exercise on nearby...with can of bear repellent, of course...hehe

I saw a poster warning of bears and advising wearing bells and carrying pepper spray. The poster went on to explain the difference between grizzly bears and black bears, and said black bear scat would be mostly fibrous plant material and grizzly bear crap might have bells in it and smell like pepper.
 
Back
Top Bottom