Sedentary Living Corrodes Body, Shortens Lifespan

According to a study that is being published online in The Lancet, "physical inactivity has a negative global impact so severe that its adverse effects on health that is being equated that of smoking or obesity."

The study is just one in a special series of reports in the journal, timed -- in an ironic twist -- to coincide with the Olympics.

It is noticed that most of the people across the world give least priority to engaging in some sort of physical exercise. This couch potato lifestyle has now become a global pandemic causing a tenth of deaths worldwide and killing roughly as many people as smoking.

This is one of the alarming series of studies done in which the scientists noticed that inactivity was responsible for 5.3 million out of 57 million deaths throughout the world in 2008. It is for the first time that the researchers have analyzed and quantified the global impact of physical inactivity.

The study that was conducted by the researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard Medical School state that if a person fails to dedicate at least 150 minutes per week engaging into some physical activity being trapped in their monotonous hectic lifestyle, could prove hazardous. This kind of living contributes to an average of 6 percent to 10 percent of several diseases globally. Lack of exercise causes an estimated 6 per cent of coronary heart disease cases, 7 per cent of type 2 diabetes (the most common form) cases, and 10 per cent of breast and colon cancers.

"Physical inactivity and obesity both have deleterious effects on [these] diseases," Dr. I-Min Lee, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the study said. "Our findings described above examined the effects of inactivity, after taking into account the adverse effect of obesity. Thus, the results may be an underestimate of the true effect, since physical activity helps to control body weight. If all of the inactive people in the world were to suddenly get off the couch and become engaged in just a modest level of physical activity, the estimated gain in life expectancy is 0.68 years."

They found that some six per cent of CHD cases worldwide are linked to physical inactivity, ranging from 3.2 per cent in Asia to 7.8 per cent in the Mediterranean region.

Since the publication of the study "Actual Causes of Death in the United States" in 1993, Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Center, said scientists have known that the three leading causes of premature death here are tobacco, poor diet and lack of physical activity. Now, these data are becoming apparent throughout the modern world.

During the study the researchers found that inactivity increases with age, is higher in women than in men, and more prevalent in high-income countries.

A second study, comparing physical activity levels with population statistics on diseases like diabetes, heart problems and cancer, said lack of exercise claimed more than 5.3 million of the 57 million deaths worldwide in 2008.

The researchers said, "The number of cases that can potentially be averted, coronary heart disease would have a far larger effect than would colon cancer because of its higher incidence."

They produced some statistics which says, 7.25 million deaths from CHD in 2008, physical inactivity accounted for 15,000 preventable deaths in Africa, 60,000 in the Americas, 44,000 in the Mediterranean region, 121,000 in Europe, 59,000 in Southeast Asia, and 100, 000 in the western Pacific region. In contrast, of the 647,000 colorectal cancer deaths in 2008, 1,000 deaths could have been avoided by eliminating physical inactivity in Africa, 14,000 in the Americas, 2000 in the eastern Mediterranean region, 24,000 in Europe, 4,000 in southeast Asia, and 24,000 in the western Pacific region.

The Lancet also published several other studies delving into the problem of physical inactivity, including one that examined how countries might promote more exercise.

The researchers concluded saying, "The human body needs exercise to help the bones, muscles, heart and other organs function optimally, but populations are walking, running and cycling less and less as they spend more time in cars and in front of computers. This Lancet series calls for global efforts to promote physical exercise by improving pedestrian and cyclist safety on city roads."