Even a short walk a day prolongs life

75 minutes of moderate exercise per week — less than 11 minutes a day — prevents one in ten premature deaths because exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other serious diseases.

The British Health Service recommends 150 minutes per week

For the study, an international team of researchers evaluated the results of 196 previously published studies involving more than 30 million people in total. They calculated that about one in six premature deaths could have been avoided if each study participant had done at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, as the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) recommends.

But according to the study, even half that — 75 minutes of moderate exercise a week — could prevent one in 10 premature deaths. In this case, the risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced by 17 percent and the risk of cancer by 7 percent. According to research, eleven minutes of exercise a day can reduce the risk of premature death by 23 percent in people who do little or no physical activity.

Get off the bus one stop earlier

Soren Brage, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge and co-author of the study, describes the results of the study as “extraordinary good news.” “All you have to do is find a little more than 10 minutes every day,” he told AFP. “And you don’t even need to go to the gym for these kinds of activities, they’re part of everyday life.”

As a daily tip for more exercise, Brage recommends getting off at an earlier bus stop or cycling to work on the way to work.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 17.9 million people worldwide died in 2019 from cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks or strokes. Cancer diseases caused nearly ten million deaths in 2020.

(AFP)

Source : Blick