From Your Health Journal…..”A very important article that I had to promote from News.com.au written by Fiona Baker entitled Is Half Hour Of Daily Exercise Enough?. As you know, we have discussed here many times about the obesity epidemic facing the youth of the world, for adults and children. Obesity related illnesses are up, including heart disease, cancer, weak joints, asthma, and type 2 diabetes. Experts state that improving your diet, exercise, adequate sleep, and proper hydration – along with less sedentary lifestyle are keys to reducing obesity. Many times, it is suggested that 60 minutes of physical activity is what we should strive for each day. In today’s article, the author asks if 60 minutes of activity is needed in her home country of Australia, despite national guidelines of 30 minutes? In the United States, it is recommended that people try to get 60 minutes of activity each day. To me, whether 30 or 60 minutes, everyone should strive to get some form of physical activity each day, as some activity is better than none. In our busy lifestyles, I think many of us wish we had the hour to spare, but many of us do not have this time. But, research suggests that the 60 minutes can be broken up in segments. So, if you go for a 30 minute jog some time during the day, but make time to walk or perform calisthenics at some point during the day, it may be possible for many to get their 60 minutes. Regardless, take the time to read Ms. Baker’s wonderful article. It was insightful and informative. The link is provided below.”
From the article…..
Is 60 minutes how much exercise we should be doing a day, despite national guidelines of 30 minutes?
Stepping up your exercise – even in small ways – is the best way to ensure optimal health and well-being.
Half an hour of activity a day may be good for general health but it’s half as much as most of us need to avoid becoming overweight or obese. That’s the growing consensus as the developed world’s obesity epidemic gathers speed and people’s activity levels fail to keep up with their food consumption.
Now Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has suggested the daily activity recommendation may need to be doubled to an hour to fight the nation’s growing weight problem, unless we make big changes to what we eat. “In the current environment of abundant availability, promotion and consumption of energy-dense food, it is now internationally recommended that 45 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity daily physical activity is the minimum required… without reduction in current energy intake,” the NHMRC writes in its newly released report, Eat For Health.
“At least 60 to 90 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (a day) or lesser amounts of vigorous activity may be required to prevent weight regain in formerly obese people,” it says.
Dr Amanda Lee, the chair of the NHMRC’s Dietary Guidelines working committee, is careful about being too insistent that activity levels need to rise or double to slow the obesity epidemic. She doesn’t want Australians to feel overwhelmed by the need to find more time to exercise when many struggle to even clock up 30 minutes a day.
“At this stage the national activity guidelines still recommend 30 minutes of moderate activity a day. Even then, not even 50 per cent of the population is managing that,” she says. “So I would be reluctant to tell everyone that they now need to find an hour.”
To read the complete article…..Click here