Finland and Uganda are the world's fittest countries - here's what they do to stay in shape

Uganda's male-dominated boxing landscape can be distressing for women competitors, though.

"It's very frustrating to train with men, wake up early to run hills, come in at the right weight, only for a fight day to come and there are no women to fight against," boxer Hellen Baleke told Reuters.

Abiasali Nsereko, who's a 68-year-old farmer in Luweero, Uganda told the BBC he wakes up at 5 a.m. every day to milk his cows.

"I spend about eight hours on my feet, six days a week," he said. "I grow all the food that we eat."

The same is no longer true in other places around the globe.

"In wealthier countries, the transition towards more sedentary occupations and personal motorized transportation probably explains the higher levels of inactivity," the WHO report says. "In lower-income countries, more activity is undertaken at work and for transport; however, these behaviours are changing rapidly."

The report authors urge everyone to walk more, bike, and play sports for fun during their free time, no matter where they live.

In many of the world's most active countries, manual labor and walking from place to place to get around is almost a given.

In Uganda, for example, Jennifer Namulembwa spends 90 minutes walking to work every morning.

"I'm used to it so I don't feel the distance," she told the BBC. "I never wear nice shoes to work. I would also like to enjoy the good life sometimes; ride in a car or on a motorcycle."

Finns are now smoking much less than they used to, and they have also changed their diets.

"Finnish men used to say vegetables were for rabbits, not real men, so people simply did not eat vegetables," Pekka Puska, director of the National Institute of Public Health in Helsinki, told the Guardian.

That's not the case anymore.

The calculator helps predict how at risk someone is of suffering a heart attack in the next 10 years, based on factors including their blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Those are two things that can both be actively lowered with more physical activity.

Finns don't let the bitter cold of the Arctic Circle keep them from getting their hearts pumping outside year round. That emphasis on exercise is also a key part of the turnaround in Finnish heart health.

"The skis and poles at the school where I was teaching were in very little use, so I decided to take the opportunity to use the poles in a more versatile way," Leena Jääskeläinen, one of the very first pole walkers, said in an interview with the International Council of Nordic Walking.

Finland's Institute of Occupational Health is dedicated to improving Finnish work life, and many offices have their own saunas and gyms.

"We have a lot of research showing that investing in work well-being will bring back as much as six times [the amount companies invest]," Matleena Livson of the Finnish Sports Confederation told NPR. "Because you reduce sick leaves, you improve the cohesiveness and good spirit, and you improve employer image at the workplace."

Some schools in Finland are even considering pulling desks out of the classroom.

"Some children learn very well sitting at a desk and listening, others would benefit greatly from moving around the room talking with their classmates," Anneli Rautiainen from the Finnish National Board of Education, told the BBC in 2016.

Finland consistently has some of the highest math, reading and science scores in the world, according to data from the intergovernmental Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The practice of seeking to improve your health by forcing your body to cope with hot and cold temperatures is known as "environmental conditioning."

The United Nations' World Happiness Report ranks 156 countries each year based on "how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be," and Finland came out on top in the report, both for immigrants living in Finland and for native-born Finns.

Scientists and exercise pros aren't surprised: they consistently find that when people get moving, they're less stressed, calmer, and in better spirits.

So no matter where on the Earth you live, get up and move around.