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Extra 2-minutes walk every hour can add years to your life

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Washington: A new study hasrevealed thatwalkingan extra two minutes

each hourmay offset hazards of sitting too long.

The University Of Utah Health Sciences study suggests that engaging in

lowintensity activities such as standing may not be enough to offset

the health hazards of sitting for long periods of time.

On the bright side, adding two minutes of walking each hour to your

routine just might do the trick.

Numerous studies have shown that sitting for extended periods of time

each day leads to increased risk for early death, as well as heart

disease, diabetes and other health conditions.

Considering that 80 percent of Americans fall short of completing the

recommended amount of exercise, 2.5 hours of moderate activity each

week, it seems unrealistic toexpect that people will replace sitting

with even more exercise.

They found that there is no benefit to decreasing sitting by two

minutes each hour, and adding a corresponding two minutes more of low

intensity activities.

However,a “trade-off” of sitting for light intensity activities for

two minutes each hour was associated with a 33 percent lower risk of

dying.

Lead author Srinivasan Beddhu said that it was fascinating to see the

results because the current nationalfocus is on moderate or vigorous

activity. To see that light activity had an association with lower

mortality is intriguing.

Beddhu explained that whileit’s obvious that it takes energy to

exercise, strolling and other light activities use energy, too.

Even short walks add up to a lot when repeated many times over the

course of a week. Assuming 16 awake hours each day, two minutes of

strolling each hour expends 400 kcal each week.

That number approaches the 600 kcal it takes to accomplish the

recommended weekly goal of moderate exercise.

He concluded that based on these results they would recommend adding

two minutes of walking each hour in combination with normal

activities, which should include 2.5 hours of moderate exercise each

week.

Moderate exercise strengthens the heart, muscles, and bones and

confers health benefits that low and light activities can’t.

The study is published in theClinical Journal of the American Society

of Nephrology (CJASN).

Credit: ANI

Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku

I am a Ghanaian Broadcast Journalist/Writer who has an interest in General News, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Lifestyle and many more.

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