Staying active is the best way to avoid illness and avoid an early death. A recent study conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NIH) has revealed the best leisure time activities to reduce the chances of dying prematurely in old age.
In this way, the work, which has been published in the journal JAMA Network Open, indicates that activities such as walking, swimming, jogging or playing tennis are some of the best ways to stay active that could reduce the risk of dying from any cause. , including death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers collected data from 272,550 adults between the ages of 59 and 82, who filled out questionnaires about their free-time activities, such as cycling, running, swimming, playing golf, aerobics, sports racket or walking as a form of exercise.
Up to 13% lower risk of dying early
The results revealed that the elderly who managed to meet the weekly exercise recommendations by combining any of the above activities managed to reduce the risk of death from any cause by 13% compared to those who did not perform any activity. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and what is reflected in the second edition of the physical activity guidelines for Americans, indicate that you should do between 2.5 and 5 hours of aerobic physical activity of moderate intensity or 1, 25 to 2.5 hours at vigorous intensity each week.
Running helps reduce the risk of dying from any cause by 15% and doing so due to cancer by up to 19%
Taking into account each activity separately, it was observed that racket sports were the ones that provided the most benefit, reducing the risk of dying from any cause by 16% and dying from cardiovascular causes by up to 27%. The next exercise with the highest level of protection was running, which reduced the chances of dying from any cause by 15% and the risk of dying from cancer by up to 19%.
In addition, those who exceeded the recommended hours of exercise were found to have even greater reductions in the risk of death, however, the returns decreased as activity levels increased.
“Even people who did some recreational activity, albeit less than recommended, had a 5% reduction in the risk of death than those who did not participate in any of the activities studied,” they explain from the NIH. The findings reinforce the evidence that staying active is the best way to live longer.
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