Physical inactivity could be as fatal as smoking: Study
The results of a recent study indicate that those who lead lazy lifestyles face the same risk of death as smokers and the obese.
According to the study published in the British medical journalThe Lancet, ironically ahead of the 2012 London Olympics, physical inactivity in 2008 led to the death of nearly 5.3 million people across the world, that is one in every 10 deaths.
This comes while smoking is responsible for about 5 million deaths throughout the world every year.
“Physical inactivity has a large impact on the health of the world. In fact, its impact is comparable to that of cigarette smoking,” said Dr. I-Min Lee, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the study.
The study also found that lack of exercise ups the risk of serious diseases including type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer, and coronary heart disease.
Researchers suggested that doing at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity, such as quickly walking, cycling or gardening for 30 minutes each week help adults to stay healthy.
They further said that governments must warn people of the hazards of not getting enough exercise and make doing physical activity more convenient for citizens.
Meanwhile, the Lancet research showed that people in richer countries do the least amount of exercise.
Source: presstv.com
