Despite fitness trackers, Americans less active in 2014

Americans reduced their physical activity in 2014, despite the exploding popularity of wearable fitness trackers and apps, marked by a burgeoning market offering countless options.

On Wednesday, the Physical Activity Council (PAC) released its 2015 Participation Report, which found that 82.7 million Americans, or 28.3 percent, matched the council's definition of physically inactive last year.

This figure represents a 0.7 percent rise from 2013, a year in which 80.2 million sedentary souls were counted, about 27.6 percent of the US population.

What's more, the numbers account for Americans as young as six years old.

Inactive people are defined by PAC standards as those who do not take part in any of the 104 sports and activities in their annual report.

This includes both team and individual sports, camping and fitness activities including walking and stretching.

"The high rate of inactivity is fundamentally alarming," says Tom Cove, PAC Chairman and the President & CEO of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA). "While we can look at this number in a negative light, I would like to use it as a wakeup call to not only our Industry but the rest of society."

Six of the eight age groups surveyed demonstrated declining physical activity.

"The benefits of increasing activity are well documented for individuals and for the country," says Cove. "It's time we put our time and resources into industry initiatives and national campaigns to increase physical activity."

On the positive side, physical activity increased among those in the 18- to 24-year-old age group for the second year in a row, leaving only 25.4 percent of them in the "inactive" category.

Almost three in five Americans, or 61 percent, participate in fitness sports, according to the PAC report.

Of those surveyed, many inactive respondents expressed a desire to change their lifestyles and listed swimming for fitness, camping, hiking and bicycling as activities they would enjoy.

"It's clear many sedentary people want to have a more active, healthy lifestyle. We need to re-commit ourselves to cracking the code in making this happen," says Cove.

To see a full copy of the report: www.physicalactivitycouncil.com