An hour’s activity required to ‘offset sedentary day’, says study
A new study puts into question the current NHS recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week by suggesting that an hour’s ‘brisk exercise’ each days is required to offset the risks of early death linked to a desk-bound job and other periods of inactivity, such as watching television.
In a study, published in The Lancet, researchers looked at the impact of activity and inactivity by going back to the authors of 13 existing scientific papers and asking them to reanalyse their data.
Participants in the studies were classed depending on how active they were – from the least active who did less than five minutes a day, up to 60 – 75 minutes a day for the most active.
Researchers then looked at how many of those participants died during the follow-up period of between two and 14 years.
They found that those who sat for eight hours a day, but were physically active, had a much lower risk of premature death compared with people who sat for fewer hours a day, but were not active.
Sitting for a long time as well as being inactive carried the greatest risk and watching TV for more than three hours was associated with an increased risk of premature death in all but the most active.
The researchers suggest this is likely to be because people might snack while they watch, or because they are more likely to watch TV after eating their evening meal which might affect their metabolism.
It could, they say, also be a sign of a more unhealthy lifestyle in general.
Prof Ulf Ekelund, of the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences and the University of Cambridge, who led the study, says, “An hour of physical activity per day is the ideal, but if this is unmanageable, then at least doing some exercise each day can help reduce the risk.”
He goes on to admit, “One hour’s moderate activity is substantially higher than current recommendations.”
Arthritis Research UK GP, Dr Tom Margham, says, “This study highlights the health risks of a sedentary lifestyle. It adds to what we know already: regular exercise helps you live longer and stronger by keeping joints supple, building muscle endurance and strength, and maintaining bone density.”
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