Physical inactivity is a frequent cause of death

Millions killed as a result of lack of exercise

07/18/2012

Physical inactivity caused more than five million of the 57 million deaths worldwide in 2008, according to a study published by researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, in the journal The Lancet.

According to the results of the US researchers, "physical inactivity accounts for six percent of the disease burden of coronary heart disease, seven percent of type 2 diabetes, ten percent of breast cancers, and ten percent of colon cancers." This includes millions of deaths and relatively little effort could become. Because women on average move less than men, they are particularly affected by the effects of lack of exercise.

Five million deaths due to lack of exercise
The scientists around Dr. I-Min Lee of Harvard Medical School had calculated the population-dense population fractions for individual countries in their study and estimated "conservative assumptions for each of the large non-communicable diseases, how many of these diseases could be averted if physical inactivity were eliminated They concluded that "lack of exercise caused nine percent of premature deaths or more than 5.3 million of the 57 million deaths in 2008". With a 10% reduction in the population's physical inactivity (25%), worldwide deaths would decrease by more than 533,000 (more than 1.3 million) per year. The average life expectancy of the population would increase accordingly.

Overall, "physical inactivity is a major health problem with global impact, and a decline in this unhealthy behavior could significantly improve global health," Dr. I-Min Lee.

Lack of exercise a global problem
Coinciding with the study of US scientists, a team of international researchers published Pedro Hallal from the University of Pelotas in Brazil reviews the global spread of physical inactivity. Among others, experts from the Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, the Norwegian School of Sports Science in Oslo and the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge (UK) were involved. In their report, the researchers describe "global physical activity using adult data (15 years or older) from 122 countries and adolescents (13-15 years old) from 105 countries."

Researchers refer to less than "60 minutes physical activity of moderate to high intensity per day as part of their physical activity." 31.1% of adults worldwide fall under this threshold, with the proportion in North and South America, for example is 43 percent, while in Southeast Asia, only 17 percent of adults are physically inactive. Dr. According to Hallal and colleagues, women are much more prone to lack of exercise than men.

Most of the young people do not move enough
Particularly serious are the inadequate physical activities of adolescents. Of the 13 to 15-year-olds, about 80 percent daily do not move enough, according to the scientists. Pedro Hallal. Here again the girls are more affected than the boys. A "further improvement in physical activity monitoring would contribute to the development of policies and programs to increase activity and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases," concludes the international research team.

According to the experts, such programs could cover a wide range of levels, including, for example, increased safety for pedestrians and cyclists on the roads or even an expansion of school sports. Long sitting in the office or watching TV, however, should be avoided as far as possible. Because only last week had dr. I-Min Lee and Peter Katzmarzyk of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University have published a study showing that people who spend more than three hours a day die around three years earlier.

Physical exercise with positive health effects
Physical exercise, however, is attributed a general health promoting effect. For decades, medical professionals have been appealing to people to move more, with even mild physical activity, such as walking, being credited with a positive effect. With fifteen minutes a day, the moans would be well served. Better still, they would follow WHO recommendations for at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week or about 20 minutes per day.

However, the WHO also assumes that, for example, running a jog at 75 minutes per week has a positive health effect. The current studies confirm the movement recommendations of the physicians and / or the WHO and suggest that far more than before against the increasing lack of exercise must be done. Not only are the potentially lethal consequences of physical inactivity at the center, but also everyday ailments related to physical inactivity (eg back pain) could be avoided. (Fp)

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