Chinese scientists at Huashan Hospital Fudan University in Shanghai, whose research covered medical data from more than 73,000 older adults, found those who expended more energy on a regular basis through moderate-to-vigorous exercise had a 14-40 percent lower risk of dementia, anxiety, depression, stroke and even sleep disorders.
Their study was presented at April’s American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, and co-lead author Dr Jia-Yi Wu told medicalnewstoday.com: ‘Unlike genetic predispositions, sedentary behaviour is a modifiable risk factor. Our finding underscores the urgent need for behavioural and environmental changes to promote more active lifestyles.
‘Both reducing sedentary behaviour and increasing physical activity are equally important. For office workers, the elderly and individuals with chronic diseases, reducing sedentary behaviour is more feasible and safer than engaging in vigorous intensity physical activity.’
The study cohort had an average age of 56 and all participants had continuously worn an accelerometer for 7 days to measure their physical activity, sedentary time (such as sitting) and how much energy they used when exercising.
Dr Wu noted: ‘Accelerometers provide objective measurements that classify physical activity based on varying intensities, ensuring the precision of results and maintaining comparability across studies and populations.’
Dr Wu and her team also reported that spending more time sitting resulted in a between 5-54 percent higher chance of developing one of the five diseases (dementia, anxiety, depression, stroke, sleep disorders), compared to those who had less sedentary time.
