Move
Photo: Tore Amundøy
Every Minute Counts: Just 5 Extra Minutes of Daily Movement Can Save Lives, Study Reveals
💡
Just five additional minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, or reducing sitting time by half an hour, can significantly improve public health, according to a new study published in The Lancet.
📈
The researchers analysed data from over 135,000 adults in Norway, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom to examine how small, realistic changes in daily habits could impact mortality rates. Using activity trackers, the team estimated the number of deaths that could potentially be prevented if individuals increased their physical activity or reduced their sitting time.
🎖️
The results indicate that even small changes can have a significant impact. For the least active individuals, adding just five extra minutes of moderate or higher intensity physical activity per day could reduce the risk of death by approximately six percent. When extended to the entire population—excluding the most active individuals—the reduction in mortality could increase to ten percent.
🪑🛋️
Reducing sedentary behaviour also demonstrated benefits, although to a lesser extent. Reducing sitting time by just 30 minutes each day could lower the risk of death by approximately three percent among the least active individuals and by seven percent across the entire population.
✅
For many people, reducing sedentary behaviour or incorporating short periods of activity is more achievable than making significant lifestyle changes.
⤑
How can we, as a society, across all sectors, support, promote, and emphasise the message that every movement counts?
//Magnus Ringberg
Reference:
