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Date of Release: 5 April 2002

April 7th is World Health Day. This year’s theme is Move for Health. The theme is intended to highlight the health benefits of regular physical activity and how this can prevent the onset of many chronic non-communicable diseases. The World Health Organisation estimates that lack of physical activity leads to more than 2 million deaths worldwide per year.

Reduced risk of premature death The benefits of regular physical activity in preventing weight gain and reducing the risk of heart disease have been well recognised for many years. It seems however, that the benefits of regular exercise may be far greater than previously understood. AFIC recently interviewed epidemiologist Dr Stephen Blair of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas, and a leading researcher into the effects of physical activity on health. Dr Blair believes that mortality (death) risk drops by 50% if those who do no physical activity shift to approximately 30 minutes of moderately vigorous activity every day.

Many people wonder what counts as moderately vigorous activity.. The answer is 30 minutes of brisk walking or its equivalent is enough, to enjoy the benefits of moderately vigorous exercise.

Even more conveniently, researchers have found that exercise can be broken down into more frequent shorter periods and still achieve the health benefits. For example 3 x 10 minutes brisk walks each day would achieve the same improvements in fitness and reduced health risk as one 30 minute bout of moderate exercise

Although this is a sensible target for individuals to work towards, any increase in physical activity levels will result in some improvement in health and fitness. This means simple changes like using the stairs, instead of the lift or elevator would improve personal fitness, or initiating fun activities like a cycle ride at the weekend could be a starting point from which to gradually increase your health and fitness levels.

Exercise as a tool to control body weight Exercise is also a great way to prevent weight gain or for those already overweight successfully achieve weight loss. There are 2 reasons for this : physical activity burns up calories during the period of exercise, regular physical activity raises metabolic rate for the rest of the day, so increasing rate of calorie consumption even whilst at rest.

Regular physical activity also brings many other benefits such as the prevention or reduction in symptoms of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, all of which are on rising rapidly in Asia.

Exercise and Type 2 diabetes Of particular interest in Asia, is the benefits of regular physical activity in preventing the onset of Type 2 diabetes or reducing its symptoms (90-95% of diagnosed diabetics have Type 2 diabetes or non-insulin dependent diabetes). Type 2 diabetes is rising rapidly around the region, and endocrinologists estimate that the numbers of Asians suffering from diabetes will double by 2025, with 5% of the population in China forecast to be diabetic by that date and even higher in India.

Regular exercise improves glucose tolerance of diabetic patients, and may even reverse the symptoms completely. One of the main reasons for this is exercise increases muscle mass. Muscle tissue burns up blood glucose and thus helps to keep blood glucose levels down – a top priority for those with non-insulin dependent diabetes.

Dr Blair says “it may actually be more sensible to understand Type 2 diabetes as a disease of muscle loss, which can thus be treated by regaining muscle tissue”