Researchers from the U.S. and Australia examined how much surpassing the advised levels can decrease one’s risk of the five common chronic diseases.
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For the objective of the study, the researchers analyzed 174 different studies which were published between 1980 and 2016. MET Minutes are used to calculate how much energy a person burns during a particular physical activity.
Most health gains occurred when participants achieved 3,000 to 4,000 MET (metabolic equivalent of task) minutes a week, with diminishing returns above that amount. It can be derived by carrying out exercise on regular basis, which may include climbing stairs, gardening, vacuuming, running and walking.
Added Prof Kyu: “This is the first meta-analysis to quantify the dose response association between total physical activity across all domains and the risk of five chronic diseases”.
But daily levels need to be five times higher than the minimum recommended by the World Health Organisation.
One can attain it through being more physically fit at work, carrying out domestic activities and engaging in active transportation like walking and cycling.
Responding to the findings, Dr Oliver Monfredi, lecturer in Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Manchester, said: “This is an important and well performed piece of research, looking at the complex issue of the protective effect of exercise on several common illnesses that are highly relevant in British society today”.
For colon cancer, heart disease and stroke, the risk fell by more than a quarter. “But new research reveals just how much exercise will make the most impact – and it’s a lot more than now recommended”. The minimum recommended activity level is 600 MET minutes a week, but the benefit was small – for example giving only a 2% lower risk of diabetes. The new research suggests aiming for five to six times that amount – 3,000 to 4,000 MET minutes/week – for maximum benefit.
“That’s the equivalent of 15-20 hours of brisk walking or 6-8 hours of running”.
“With population aging, and an increasing number of cardiovascular and diabetes deaths since 1990, greater attention and investments in interventions to promote physical activity in the general public is required”, lead author Hmwe Kyu wrote.
Researchers found that higher levels of physical activity were associated with lower risk of 13 of 26 cancers – esophageal adenocarcinoma (42 per cent), liver (27 per cent), lung (26 percent); kidney (23 per cent), gastric cardia (22 per cent) and endometrial (21 per cent).
But he points out “it can not tell us whether risk reductions would be different with short duration intense physical activity or longer duration light physical activity”.
“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 hard to accurately measure physical activity”.
Physical activity doesn’t have to mean running for hours on end or locking yourself to an elliptical each morning.
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“We already know that there are additional health benefits with doing more than 150 minutes but in the United Kingdom only two in five adults achieve this minimum recommendation”.
