SHANDONG, China, Aug 4 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Do you know that more engagement in physical activities shows a greatly reduced risk of mortality? Recently, the paper on physical activity and human health was published in the top international medical journal-British Medical Journal (Impact Factor: 30.223) by Prof. Bo Xi from the School of Public Health of Shandong University, with the cooperation with Dr. Sreenivas P. Veeranki from the University of Texas Medical Branch, USA and Dr. Costan G. Magnussen from the University of Tasmania, Australia. Dr. Min Zhao is the first author and Shandong University is the first author affiliation.
Previous studies showed that physical inactivity is a major risk factor for chronic non-communicable diseases worldwide. Although physical inactivity has been estimated to be responsible for 9 percent of premature death and $53.8 billion in health costs, it is still a worldwide public health problem. The 2018 physical activity guidelines for Americans recommend that adults should engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (e.g. jogging, dancing, etc.) or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (e.g. faster running, playing basketball, etc.) each week, or an equivalent combination of both. Unfortunately, this study showed that, in the general population, only 16 percent engaged in both recommended aerobic and muscle strengthening activities, 24 percent in recommended aerobic activity only, and 4.5 percent in recommended muscle-strengthening activity only.