Dr KK Aggarwal
The Prospective Urban Rural
Epidemiology (PURE) study has shown that any kind of physical activity lowers
the risk of heart disease and death.
The prospective cohort study
led by the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster University and
Hamilton Health Sciences recruited more than 130,000 subjects from 17 countries
- Canada, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Poland,
Turkey, Malaysia, South Africa, China, Colombia, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan and
Zimbabwe, including India.
The PURE study, published
September 22, 2017 in The Lancet, not only examined leisure time physical
activity, it also evaluated non-recreational activities such as active
commuting, having an active job or even doing housework, which are more
prevalent in low and middle-income countries. And, any activity was found to
meet the current recommendations of 30 minutes of activity a day, or 150
minutes a week.
By meeting the activity
guidelines, the risk for death from any cause was reduced by 28%, while heart
disease was reduced by 20%; these results were not influenced by the type of
physical activity the person did. Those who recorded more than 750 minutes of
brisk walking per week had a 36% reduction in risk of death. But, a large
percentage of participants (38%) were able to achieve this level of activity
from activities such as commuting, being active at work or doing household
chores compared to only 3% of those who achieved this level from leisure time
activity.
Although often used
interchangeably, ‘exercise’ is not synonymous with ‘physical activity’.
Exercise is a part of physical activity, which includes activities done at
leisure, done at work, commuting or household tasks or chores. Increasing
physical activity is a strategy that requires no investment, no special
training to reduce the burden of non communicable diseases. Everybody should move around
more often all through the day in addition to regular exercise. Promoting
physical activity is also the objective of the
“Move, Move and Move” campaign of IMA.
(Source: McMaster University,
Sept 22, 2017)
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