A short daily walk can already have a very beneficial effect on your health. According to researchers at the University of Cambridge, one in ten premature deaths can be prevented by exercising for about eleven minutes a day.
The scientists used 196 studies. In the so-called meta-analysis, they therefore examined a total of more than 30 million people worldwide. The results were published in British Journal of Sports Medicinethe sporting branch of the authoritative medical journal BMJ.
Since 2017 advises the Health Council that Dutch adults should exercise moderately intensively for at least 2.5 hours a week. Children should do this for at least an hour every day. Moderately intensive exercise includes walking, cycling and dancing. The UK health service NHS has similar guidelines.
Many adults do not reach the minimum 2.5 hours. The researchers state that “the guidelines are there for a reason”, but that little exercise is better than no exercise. Those who exercise 11 minutes daily or 75 minutes weekly will already benefit from this.
“You should feel yourself moving. Your heart will beat faster, without you getting out of breath,” says lead researcher Søren Brage. Those who do this daily have a lower chance of developing cardiovascular diseases and cancer. These are the most common causes of death worldwide. The risk of a heart attack can be reduced by up to 17 percent, the risk of cancer is on average 7 percent.
Among all people who did not exercise enough, even one in six premature deaths could have been prevented if they had achieved the minimum recommended amount of exercise. For the research group as a whole, this applies to one in ten.
