Walk an hour a day - study

Thursday July 28th, 2016

An hour a day of walking can counteract the health risks of spending all day sitting, according to a major study published today.

Researchers at Cambridge University, UK, also concluded that lack of physical activity is a greater risk than prolonged sitting.

Their findings, reported in The Lancet, come from an analysis of 16 pieces of research involving more than a million people.

They found that 75% of people failed to achieve 60 to 75 minutes of moderate activity daily.

This amount of activity is enough to eliminate the risk of early death linked to sitting for eight hours or more a day, they say.

But it is about three times the weekly amount of physical activity recommended by the World Health Organisation - 150 minutes.

The research found that sitting at work or sitting to watch the television was equally risky for health.

Researcher Professor Ulf Ekelund said: "There has been a lot of concern about the health risks associated with today's more sedentary lifestyles.

"Our message is a positive one: it is possible to reduce - or even eliminate - these risks if we are active enough, even without having to take up sports or go to the gym.

"For many people who commute to work and have office-based jobs, there is no way to escape sitting for prolonged periods of time. For these people in particular, we cannot stress enough the importance of getting exercise, whether it's getting out for a walk at lunchtime, going for a run in the morning or cycling to work."

Ekelund, U et al. Physical activity attenuates the detrimental association of sitting time with mortality: A harmonised meta-analysis of data from more than one million men and women. Lancet 28 July 2016; doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30370-1 [abstract]

Tags: Fitness | Heart Health | UK News

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