Uganda is World’s Fittest Country and Apparently, Poverty is the Reason

Yoweri Museveni
Yoweri Museveni, President, Uganda

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently released a study that revealed that out of all countries in the world, our neighbours Uganda are the most physically active thus making them the fittest. The study, which was tracking the level of physical activity around the world, found that 94.5% of Ugandans were sufficiently physically active.

On the list, Mozambique, Lesotho, Togo and neighbouring Tanzania were also doing quite well. With the likes of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq having high levels of inactivity, for instance, 67% of Kuwait’s adult population was considered physically inactive.

As per the research findings, people in low-income countries seem to be sufficiently active physically in comparison to those in wealthier countries. In a coverage done by BBC, Patience Atuhaire, writes, “the poorer people are, the more likely they are to use modes of transport, or be in an occupation, that involve physical work.”

Patience gives an example of Abiasali Nsereko, a 68-year-old farmer in Luweero, Uganda who has a 10-acre farm that he tills on his own, with occasional help from hired labourers. Mr Abiasali says that he spends about eight hours on his feet, six days a week. “I grow all the food that we eat. If I stopped working, I would probably fall sick. At my age, I do not have a single ache in my body,” he says.

In the Urban areas, BBC reports that joggers have been slowly taking over the city of Kampala, especially on weekends. The high physical activity is Uganda is not entirely because they have too walk to work or spend their whole day on their farms, but the government has also played a major role with the launch of National Day of Physical Activity that will be marked annually on the 7th of July.

However, it is worth noting that the research was based on self-reported national data, meaning the government fed WHO with the data. So if you decide to take it all with a pinch of salt, no one will blame you.