(France = International News) Reporter Kim Hyeon-seung = A study has found that even exercise such as brisk walking for 11 minutes every day can lower the risk of premature death.
Physical activity is known to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and other leading causes of death, but exactly how much exercise is needed to have an effect remains unclear.
An international team of researchers pooled the results of 196 previous studies involving more than 30 million people for their study.
The researchers found that if all participants in the study did at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, the level recommended by the UK’s National Health Service, one in six premature deaths would have been prevented.
However, according to a meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, half of that, 75 minutes per week or less than 11 minutes of exercise per day, can prevent one in 10 premature deaths. In particular, heart disease decreased by 17% and cancer by 7%.
For people who did little or no physical activity, just 11 minutes a day lowered their risk of premature death by 23%.
“This is very good news,” Soren Brage, an expert in body activity dynamics at the University of Cambridge in England and co-author of the study, told AFP. “All you need to do is find a little over 10 minutes each day.”
“You don’t have to go to the gym to do this type of workout. It’s part of everyday life,” he added.
He suggested getting off at the bus stop on the way to work and walking or biking back home.
“Many studies were conducted more than 10 years ago because it takes years to evaluate the effects of exercise on disease,” explains Dr. Brague.
This meant that the activities reported by the study participants were less accurate than those confirmed by newer technologies such as fitness trackers, which they acknowledged was a limitation of the study.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke killed 17.9 million people worldwide in 2019, and cancer killed regarding 10 million the following year.