Those guidelines that call for about 30 minutes of daily exercise aren’t nearly enough to stave off chronic disease, a new study is warning.
Australian researchers say that World Health Organization exercise recommendations are far too low – you ought to take up 15 hours of brisk walking or six to eight hours of running each week to reduce your risk of five chronic diseases. They include: breast and bowel cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
“Although the first minutes of activity do most for our health, our research suggests activity needs to be several times higher than current World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to achieve larger reductions in risks of these diseases,” Dr. Lennert Veerman, out of the University of Queensland, said.
“A lot of previous research had shown the benefits of being physically active, but we still do not definitively know the exact type and quantity of activity that most reduces the risk of common conditions because it is difficult to accurately measure physical activity,” Veerman said.
READ MORE: Why too much sitting time increases risk of disease even if you exercise
The WHO calls for a minimum of 10 metabolic equivalent (MET) hours of exercise per week. That’s about 75 minutes of running or 2.5 hours of walking per week.
In Canada, physical activity guidelines for adults call for 150 minutes of physical activity weekly, but it has to be exercise that gets your heart rate going.
The trouble is, Veerman’s research suggests that 10 MET-hours is too low. Instead, 50 to 70 MET-hours led to protective health measures.
His findings are based on reviewing 174 studies published between 1980 and 2016. Across the board, those who had “higher levels” of weekly exercise saw a reduced risk in the five diseases listed.
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Fifty MET-hours is five times more than what the WHO recommends, but the scientists note, the physical activity doesn’t have to be strenuous.
“This could mean being more active at work, doing housework, using stairs where possible, gardening, running and using active transport, such as walking or cycling,” Veerman said.
“People may need to incorporate additional daily activity to achieve 50 MET-hours … the trick is to incorporate physical activity into daily life, making it a habit rather than a chore,” he said.
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Veerman’s full findings were published in the BMJ, and they’re timely, too.
READ MORE: This nervous habit could help reduce heart disease risk, scientists say
This week, the American Heart Association warned in a new advisory that sitting is bad for your health, especially when it comes to your psychological well-being and quality of life.
Read the AHA’s position statement.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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