Key points from article :
A large study, published in The Innovation and led by Professor Canqing Yu from Peking University and Dr. Huaidong Du from Oxford Population Health, has revealed that physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of developing 65 diseases and dying from 19 specific causes. The research used data from the China Kadoorie Biobank, which tracked the health of 500,000 adults for over 12 years. The study found that adults who were the most physically active had a 14% lower risk of disease compared to the least active group. Physical activity was linked to a 40% lower risk of death from any cause, and a 20-74% reduced risk of death from 19 specific causes.
The study emphasized that physical activity, whether from work, household chores, or exercise, provided health benefits regardless of intensity. It also found that even small increases in activity levels could offer significant health improvements for those with very low activity levels. If all adults in China met the recommended physical activity levels, a substantial number of deaths related to physical inactivity could be prevented. The researchers advocate for the promotion of physical activity in public health policies to reduce the global burden of chronic diseases.
