Lismore was just leaving the stage when Gayibov managed to set up an impromptu follow-up meeting to discuss how to deal with an issue which many parents are faced with as youngsters become transfixed by the virtual world.

According to Lismore, almost 43 per cent of the world’s population considers themselves a gamer.

Without even doing the maths, it's clear that’s a significant amount of people.

Of those actively engaging in the video gaming world, Lismore said 90 per cent were Gen Z - that’s people born after 1997, so 26 or younger.

Lismore was speaking on a panel during the seventh edition of the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS VII) here.

The meeting is being held in Baku with the aim of ensuring all UNESCO member states adopt and launch the Fit for Life Alliance.

UNESCO’s flagship sports programme looks to accelerate the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by improving the wellbeing of young people from around the world.

Fit for Life is framed as a solution to help tackle crises in physical inactivity, mental health and inequality in the world of sport that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) fully supports the plan as its "conservative" estimate found that inactivity leads to five million deaths per year and amounts to public health care systems around the global having to fork out billions of dollars annually, insisting "few countries can afford this and resources could be used elsewhere".

Fiona Bull, head of unit of physical activity at WHO, insisted that a "common, clear measurable goal" was needed and ensuring by signing the global action plan countries agree to a target of 15 per cent in a reduction in physical inactivity by 2030.

With the WHO’s latest figures on physical activity coming from 2016, there are fears that the number of inactiveness will be considerably higher given the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns that forced people to stay at home.

"We haven’t looked at post COVID yet," Bull told insidethegames.

"We are doing the work now and we will look at the impact.

"So far, some populations have showed an increased.

"Some people found they had more time [to do more physical exercise] so walks from home, yoga or cycling.

"However, at the same time other people were less active because they weren’t going to work an weren’t move around as much."

Many Ministers and leading officials in sport have raised concerns over the lack of physical activity in their countries since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Isaac Piña, director general of the Municipal Commission for Physical Culture and Sport of León in Mexico, expressed his worries over the drop in the amount of people playing sport and focusing their attention on social media instead.

"In the cities, particularly young people are far too sedentary and literally dying of inactivity," said Piña.

"Nowadays children are faced with so many distractions including the hours spent on social media, sometimes it is six to seven hours a day in my country."

Piña said research had found that seven out of 10 Mexicans suffer with a degree of obesity or are overweight.

"There are studies in our country which show that 40 per cent that used to do sport dropped it after the pandemic," said Piña.

"Life is not a video game and you cannot binge watch on Netflix and consider yourself a success in life.

"It’s time for this to change.

"We need to have a beautiful alternative for our youth."

Piña made his comments while sharing a stage with Ming Wei Ng, a former taekwondo player who became a TikTok sensation.

But the Singaporean stressed that esports can inspire people to do more physical activities.

"I think virtual sport is a way of getting people started,” said Singaporean.

"Once they discover it, they will try it in a real situation that will boost participation."

With so many people playing esports, it is no surprise that the International Olympic Committee has joined the "esports revolution".

Last week saw gamers gather for the inaugural edition of the Olympic Esports Week at the Suntec Conference and Exhibition Centre in Singapore.

A total of 10 titles were up for grabs with esports players competing on games such as Tic Tac Bow for archery, Zwift for cycling, Just Dance for dance sport, Gran Turismo for motorsport, Virtual Regatta for sailing and Fortnite for shooting.

While the image of a gamer might be perceived by some to be a person who sits for hours on end with their eyes glued to their screen pressing buttons on a controller or moving a joystick, there are several esports that require plenty of physical exertion.

Among those is virtual taekwondo that uses AXIS - a full-body motion track system which allows players maximum freedom of movement to use their bodies as game controllers.

When it comes to games, Pokémon GO is also proven to be a good way of keep fit, with research in the United Kingdom finding that it had increased people’s step-count eight-fold.

The popular smartphone app uses location tracking and mapping technology to offer an augmented reality where participants catch and train Pokémon in real locations in the world.

GEF chief executive Paul Foster says his organisation brings the world’s gaming and esports community together to "pave the way towards a safer, healthier and more active and connected inclusive society".

"We are proud to have a partnership with UNESCO and other international organisations," said Foster.

"Together with UNESCO, we aim to build bridge between esports and sport that can have an impact on a global scale for the benefit of humanity.

"Today we are reaffirming our commitment to tackle physical inactivity as well as safeguarding mental health, social exclusion and inequality."

Alongside the UNESO Global Sports Conference - MINEPS VII, people were taking part in a skipping rope challenge while others entered an esports lab.

It could not have been more contrasting as gamers sat routed to their chairs while groups of youngsters skipped away to the delight of onlookers.

Shukur Askarli, event manager at the Azerbaijan Esports Federation, admitted that just a couple of their games involved physical exercise but insisted that he encouraged his players to ensure they get active.

"I think that esports needs to improve in our country,” said Askarli.

"We have some tournaments but not enough for gamers.

"We are doing our best, so we are trying to improve.

"I think there are some physical problems with it as we sit down, playing games but we can also do sport, like go to the gym in other times of day.

"At all tournaments we tell them that they should do some physical activities and not play all day as it can cause physical problems."

It’s no doubt that esports is here to stay and there are suggestions that Olympic Esports Week could fit neatly in between the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the future.

But getting people moving must be the priority for the whole sports movement as UNESCO looks to put its Fit for Life programme into action across the world.