By Aria Bendix -
NBC News
Just 11 minutes of moderate physical activity a day can reduce the risk of premature death, concluded research published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The authors analyzed data from almost 200 studies with more than 30 million participants from around the world,
who for at least three years recorded their exercise levels.
The team examined the relationship between physical activity and 22 different health outcomes, including 14 types of cancer, making it one of the largest analyzes of its kind.
The results showed that those who exercised moderately for 75 minutes a week—that is, they hiked, walked, biked to work, or played actively with their children—had a lower risk of death, heart disease, accidents cerebrovascular and various types of cancer compared to those that were not active.
Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week according to the WHO and CDC.Ashley Corbin-Teich / Getty Images/Image Source
The researchers calculated that one in 10 premature deaths recorded in their analysis, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as deaths between the ages of 30 and 70, could have been prevented if people had engaged in moderate physical activity. for 75 minutes a week.
That time is half the exercise recommended by the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Both organizations state that
adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week
.
Worldwide, one in four adults does not meet these recommendations.
In the United States, less than half follow them.
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, insisted Leandro García, author of the study and professor of Public Health at Queen's University in Belfast (Ireland).
“Many people think that to achieve moderate levels of physical activity, or to reach these recommended values, you need to go to structured exercise sessions or do really strenuous activities, when in reality the tasks we do in our routines can also be very beneficial”, he pointed.
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According to García, as a general rule , any exercise that raises the heart rate and allows for a conversation
can be considered moderate physical activity
.
The types of movement this involves depend on each person's age, state of health, and general physical condition.
Amanda Paluch, an epidemiologist and kinesiologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was not involved in this new analysis, but cautioned against considering 11 minutes as a minimum or maximum daily goal.
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“This is a very broad and widespread figure, so giving it much importance would be a bit difficult,” Paluch said.
Overall, previous research has shown that short bouts of daily physical activity can improve people's health.
A study in December found that vigorous movements lasting one to two minutes, repeated three to four times a day, were associated with a less than 40% risk of death over seven years.
Unlike moderate physical activity, these intense efforts are what leave people panting and out of breath.
A person runs in New Jersey on February 26, 2023. Gary Hershorn / Getty Images
According to that research, people who included this type of movement had a 49% lower risk of dying from heart disease, compared to those who did not perform any intense activity.
Paluch's research, published last year, found that the overall risk of death decreased as the number of steps taken per day increased, although the effect stopped at 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day.
"We're finding that below 10,000 steps a day there's still a significant benefit," said Kelly Evenson, a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-author of the study with Paluch.
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Their results suggested that people who averaged between 6,000 and 11,000 steps a day had a 50% to 60% lower risk of death than those who took about 3,500 steps a day.
“We have found that at different ages
it is never too late to start being active
and that the benefits accrue quite quickly.
There is no age at which physical activity is not useful," Evenson said.
The three experts interviewed agreed that the recommendations of the WHO and the CDC continue to be the ideal thresholds for physical activity.
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According to the new study, if all the people analyzed had increased their moderate physical activity to the recommended 150 minutes per week,
almost 16% of all premature deaths could have been avoided.
"Physical activity acts on almost every cell in the body," Paluch said.
"It could influence things like inflammation, for example, which is associated with cancer."
