India, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are among the world’s laziest countries – poll

A recent health survey shows that Hong Kong has the most active population in the whole world.

Statistics were gathered through the use of smartphone data that calculated the amount of steps taken by over 700,000 people.

According to a Stanford University survey published in the Journal Nature, the average amount of steps taken by Hong Kong residents is a whopping 6,880 steps. This amount is followed by China, coming in at second place with an estimated citizen step average of 6,189 steps.

But those living in Indonesia appear to be the laziest, managing just 3,513, according to Stanford University researchers.

By comparison, Britons walk 5,444 steps on a daily basis, less than three miles (5km), tipping their US counterparts who manage just 4,774 and Canadians do an average of 4,819 steps a day.

Other than Indonesia, Greece (4,350 steps on a daily basis), Egypt (4,315), India (4,297), Brazil (4,289), Qatar  (4,158), South Africa  (4,105), Philippines, (4,008), Malaysia, (3,963) and (Saudi Arabia    (3,807) round up the bottom 10 of the world’s laziest country survey.

Ukraine at 6,107 steps daily, Japan   (6,010), Russia            (5,969), Spain (5,936), Sweden (5,863),

South Korea    (5,755), , Singapore    (5,674) and Switzerland round up the top 10 after Hong Kong and China.

Scott Delp, a professor of bioengineering behind the findings, told the BBC: 'The study is 1,000 times larger than any previous study on human movement.

'There have been wonderful health surveys done, but our new study provides data from more countries, many more subjects, and tracks people's activity on an ongoing basis.

'This opens the door to new ways of doing science at a much larger scale than we have been able to do before.'

On average, the number of daily steps taken was 4,961 - two-and-a-half miles (4km), according to the research published in the journal Nature.

But many countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, also fell below the standard estimated amount.

Experts say the overall findings, which delved into multiple factors such as 'activity inequality' and obesity rates in 46 countries, could help tackle bulging waistlines.

Researchers explained that the amount of activity in a country is “largely driven” by gender. This case is evident in countries such as the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, where women are less-likely to be active than men.

Another factor revealed by the health survey is that of a country’s “walkability rate.” Cities that are more catering to pedestrians are most likely to have more active citizens.

On the other hand, cities in the U.S. such as Houston and Memphis are known to have a “low walkability” rate. This means it is a lot harder to get around the city without the aid of cars, which naturally translates to less active people.

It’s safe to say that a country’s fitness and activity isn’t necessarily race specific since the amount of active people will rely heavily on a country’s demographic and geology instead. This goes without saying that the easier and more convenient pedestrian facilities become, the more active the country’s population will be.