There are more deaths due to lack of exercise than there are caused by being overweight, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Using the latest death figures in Europe, a group of researchers from the University of Cambridge estimated that some 337,000 individuals die due to obesity. The number of people who died due to inactivity is two times as high at 676,000.
"This is a simple message: just a small amount of physical activity each day could have substantial health benefits for people who are physically inactive," says lead researcher Professor Ulf Ekelund of the Medical Research Council of the Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.
Obesity and lack of exercise go hand in hand, but the study reveals even thin people who are not overweight can benefit by adding even as little as 20 minutes of moderate exercise every day, which provides significant health benefits for people of all shapes and sizes, including people of normal weight and people who are obese and overweight. Ekelund says engaging in moderate exercise regularly, such as brisk walking for 20 minutes every day, can reduce the risk of early death by as much as 30 percent.
To come up with this figure, the researchers gathered data from a total of 334,161 respondents whom they followed over a period of 12 years. Throughout the study period, the researchers collected data about the subjects' weight, waist circumferences, and their activity levels as assessed by the subjects. They also recorded every death that occurred during the period.
What the researchers found out was that the biggest risk of death was in people who were inactive, and the result was true across all types of people, whether they were of normal weight, overweight, or obese, although moderate exercise provided the biggest benefit for people with normal weight.
By encouraging people to move, the researchers estimate that the European mortality rate could go down by as much as 7.5 percent, or 676,000 deaths. Eliminating obesity would only reduce the mortality rate by 3.66 percent, or 337,000 deaths, Ekelund says.
"But I don't think it's a case of one or the other," stresses Ekelund. "We should also strive to reduce obesity, but I do think physical activity needs to be recognized as a very important public health strategy."
Professor John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, agrees. He says governments need to make substantial investments in cycling infrastructure that will make it easier for people to incorporate exercise into their daily routines.
However, Ekelund says all people need to change their health is to walk briskly for 20 minutes a day.
"I think people need to consider their 24-hour day," he says. "Twenty minutes of physical activity, equivalent to a brisk walk, should be possible for most people to include on their way to or from work, or on lunch breaks, or in the evening instead of watching TV."
