Our leisure, school and work time are increasingly spent watching screens while sitting such as television, computers, and socializing on small screens. Consequently, we are becoming more sedentary during our average day, and spending less time doing physically active tasks. It’s much more convenient to email our work mate down the hallway instead of getting out of our chair and walking to their cubical or office. Even walking to school or taking stairs has become less common than past generations as our current world becomes more convenient and protective. These time-saving habits and ‘conveniences of effort’ however, are costing us our health by reducing our movement and the number of steps we take each day. As a population, we are much less active than 50 and 100 years ago.
Activity is a very good indicator of overall health and wellness. How active we are and how much we exercise, can predict of how long we live! People who are inactive are at much greater risk of dying than active people of the same age by 17-25%. The more vigorous the regular exercise, the lower the risk of dying, and the more likely you will live longer.
Regular activity and exercise can therefore, have very large benefits to people of all ages. For older adults, even low doses of exercise are beneficial and can reduce mortality (death risk) by ~22%. People of all ages, are encouraged to include even low doses of activity in their daily lives. Even 15 minutes of exercise per day can lower your risk of death.
So what’s the main message and what can be done? Start to exercise on a regular basis. Move to live!
If you’re starting an exercise program, let us know how you go,
Sandra.
References
Arem, H., Moore, S. C., Patel, A., & et al. (2015). Leisure time physical activity and mortality: A detailed pooled analysis of the dose-response relationship. JAMA Internal Medicine, 175(6), 959-967.
Hupin, D., Roche, F., Gremeaux, V., Chatard, J.-C., Oriol, M., Gaspoz, J.-M., . . . Edouard, P. (2015). Even a low-dose of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity reduces mortality by 22% in adults aged ≥60 years: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med, 49(19), 1262-1267.
Paffenbarger, R. S., Jr., Hyde, R. T., Wing, A. L., & Hsieh, C. C. (1986). Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni. N Engl J Med, 314(10), 605-613.
Wen, C. P., Wai, J. P. M., Tsai, M. K., Yang, Y. C., Cheng, T. Y. D., Lee, M.-C., . . . Wu, X. (2011). Minimum amount of physical activity for reduced mortality and extended life expectancy: a prospective cohort study. The Lancet, 378(9798), 1244-1253.
Woodcock, J., Franco, O. H., Orsini, N., & Roberts, I. (2011). Non-vigorous physical activity and all-cause mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Int J Epidemiol, 40(1), 121-138.
