Ramírez Varela, AndreaBauman, AdrianWoods, Catherine BShawar, Yusra RibhiHallal, Pedro CSalvo, DeborahSiefken, KatjaWendel-Vos, WandaMiranda, J JaimeMejía-Grueso, JulianaSallis, James FHinckson, EricaLee, I-MinReis, Rodrigo SiqueiraDing, DingEkelund, UlfKohl III, Harold WShiffman, JeremyPratt, Michael2026-04-142026-04-142026-03-09Nature Health, ISSN: 3005-0693 (Print); 3005-0693 (Online), Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 1(3), 338-354. doi: 10.1038/s44360-025-00044-33005-06933005-0693http://hdl.handle.net/10292/20914<jats:p>Global physical inactivity has remained high and unchanged for the past two decades. We assessed global political priority for physical activity. An analysis of national policy documents from 200 countries revealed notable progress in policy adoption since 2004, but we found limited evidence of implementation. A qualitative case study design, including insights from 46 key informants, confirmed low political priority. Four key challenges emerged: (1) domination of health-centric approaches; (2) limited recognition of benefits beyond non-communicable disease prevention; (3) interest across sectors but lack of clarity defining physical activity policy and of leadership; and (4) limited multisectoral partnerships. Proposed solutions include: (1) building consensus on physical activity policy with consideration of context; (2) acknowledging the scope of benefits; (3) clarifying multisectoral leadership and responsibilities; and (4) increasing partnerships beyond obvious proponents. Prioritizing physical activity policy is essential for improving human, societal and planetary health.</jats:p>Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.4206 Public Health42 Health SciencesPhysical ActivityPrevention8.3 Policy, ethics, and research governance3 Good Health and Well BeingJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1038/s44360-025-00044-3