Malta and Swaziland are the laziest countries in the world followed by Saudi Arabia. Kuwait and UAE also figure in the top ten list of the countries where people are not undertaking sufficient physical activity to keep them fit. Among the other European nations Serbia tops the list followed by UK.

India figures at the lower half of the 100 plus nations table as reported in a new study by the Lancet Medical Journal. The report has been released to coincide with the London Olympics and to highlight the global attention to lack of physical exercise which is leading to fatal lifestyle diseases.

The study shows in Malta, 71.9% of adults are inactive and in Serbia the proportion is 68.3%. Saudi Arabia is placed third with 68.3 % of its adults failing to get into any exercise. Kuwait and the UAE also rank in the top ten with 64.5 percent and 62.5 percent of adults not meeting the recommended level of activity. In UK where the London Olympics are being held , 63.3% of adults do not exercise. 

India is placed at the lower half of the table with 15.6 % of its total population being inactive. The most active countries are Greece, where only 16% are inactive followed by Estonia and Netherlands and all of them have a significant number of people engaged in regular physical exercises.

The report, which uses data from the World Health Organization, suggests that the couch potato lifestyle kills about five million people worldwide every year. Inactivity has largely been blamed on wrong social trends, such as spending more time in cars and in front of computers. 

The WHO recommended levels of physical activities include walking briskly for 30 minutes or more five times a week or taking more vigorous exercise for 20 minutes three times a week.