Couch potatoes might be glad to hear that as little as 15 minutes of daily exercise reduces the risk of death by about 14 per cent, according to a health study carried out in Taiwan.
But while agreeing that a quarter of an hour of daily exercise has its benefits and “is better than nothing”, Maltese health professionals believe that more physical activity is needed for a truly healthy lifestyle.
The study, carried out by health experts at the National Health Research Institutes of Taiwan, was based on the monitoring of 400,000 people over an average of eight years.
The subjects were then classified according to their rate of physical activity into the categories: inactive, low, medium, high and very high.
Those with a low rate of physical activity carried out an average of 15 minutes exercise a day. When compared to the inactive group it emerged that they were 14 per cent less likely to die, 10 per cent less likely to get cancer and had a three-year longer life expectancy.
The Taiwanese researchers found that a person’s risk of death from any cause slipped by four per cent for every additional 15 minutes of exercise, up to 100 minutes a day.
The study is significant because it shows that even a low amount of physical activity can play a central role in the global war against non-communicable diseases that include cardiovascular illnesses and obesity.
A spokesman for Malta’s Health Promotion department explained that, according to the World Health Organisation, adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity a week. This means 30 minutes, five days a week.
“Preferably one should abide by the WHO standards… but doing 105 minutes of physical activity a week (15 minutes a day)… still has benefits over doing no physical activity at all,” the spokesman said.
Nutritionists Claire Copperstone and Joseph Magri agreed that 15 minutes of movement daily was better than nothing.
“The benefits go well over those 15 minutes as there is the feel-good factor and exercise reduces stress,” Ms Copperstone said adding that one should choose whatever exercise one doing best.
“Like your work and social life, physical activity has to be part and parcel of anything you enjoy doing during the day... People need to start exercising from a young age... Anything is better than nothing,” she said.
Mr Magri agreed but cautioned that the sedentary lifestyle lived by most people nowadays called for more exercise than 15 minutes a day.
“It’s not likely that 15 minutes a day will lead to weight loss but there are other benefits that include controlling blood pressure and insulin activity,” he said.
About 58 per cent of Maltese adults are obese or overweight with 22 per cent classified as obese with a body mass index over 30. The BMI is the calculation of weight in relation to height.
A person of normal weight would have a BMI ranging between 18 and 25.