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UAE has ranked fourth in the recent Global State of Mind Index launched by sports equipment giant ASICS. The study correlates positive mental health with exercise, noting that all traits help in enhancing sharp memory and coping with stress.
According to the Index, active UAE residents scored 71/100 as compared to 62/100 for non-active individuals. Those surveyed in the UAE engage in physical activity for about 180 minutes every week, with walking named the most popular activity followed by football and swimming.
UAE's local data has confirmed zero disparity by gender. This key factor has been achieved by only three countries, including the UAE.
As per the ASICS study, only fifteen minutes and nine seconds of exercise per day is enough to ensure a positive impact on mental health. Brendon Stubbs, an exercise and mental health researcher from King’s College London, said that it is a common perception that people are needed to move for a long time to experience the positive mood benefits. On the contrary, the research proves that it takes only a little over 15 minutes of movement to experience a positive impact of exercising on mental health.
“Coinciding with the State of Mind Index, which demonstrates the positive link between movement and mental health on a global scale like never before, we hope it will be inspiring for many to see the impact that such a small amount of movement can have,” Stubbs, who led the study, said.
Furthermore, China, India and Thailand topped the list of 16 countries which uncovered the benefits of increased levels of activity for younger generations.
The study also underlined significant differences in physical activity between different generations, with the elderly (people aged above 57) moving on average for almost one hour (53 minutes) more than Gen Z a week. This development showed to have a major impact on every group's collective State of Mind score.
As per the study, 54 percent of the global older population are active and feel the uplifting benefits of working out, with their average State of Mind score reported at 67/100.
On the opposite, only 45 percent of the global Gen Z (aged 18-24) population are active as of now, with their average State of Mind score at 59/100 lower than their older counterparts.
UAE results
The UAE’s results appeared to be consistent with the global data in confirming that the older generation is more active and has a higher State of Mind score (61 percent active with an average SOM score of 71/100) compared with Gen Z (55 percent active with average SOM score of 63/100).
The State of Mind Index is calculated on the basis of accumulative mean scores across ten cognitive and emotional traits such as focused, composed, positivity, content and relaxed.