Millions of years ago, when our ancestors were roaming the plains of Africa, physical activity was part of everyday life. Even 100 years ago, people were more active in daily life: Jobs were more likely to be manual, and if you needed to get somewhere, you usually had to walk.
Today, thanks to modern technology, we are much more sedentary. However, to maintain good health, we need to move our bodies. The
Although scientists have established that keeping active is linked to a reduced risk of a wide range of diseases, questions still remain. One important outstanding question is whether weekend warriors get the same benefits as people who spread their activity throughout the week.
However, little research has been done to date into how this modern exercise pattern impacts overall disease risk or cardiometabolic disease risk. The latest study helps answer this question.
The authors used data from almost 90,000 people in the United Kingdom with an average age of 62. They all wore an accelerometer for 1 week to track physical movement. Using this activity data, they divided people into three groups:
- Inactive: Less than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week.
- Weekend warriors: At least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week, mostly over 1 or 2 days.
- Regular activity: At least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week, spread more evenly throughout the week.
Compared with the inactive group, both the weekend warriors and regular activity groups had lower disease risks. The strongest associations were for cardiometabolic conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and sleep apnea.
In total, compared with the inactive participants, both active groups had a reduced risk of more than 200 diseases. Interestingly, the scientists found no significant differences between the risk reductions in the two active groups.
In…
Read the full article here
