11 minutes of daily exercise reduces risk for premature death

Engaging in moderate-intensity physical activity for 11 minutes a day could prevent nearly 16% of all premature deaths, according to researchers.

Leandro Garcia, DSc, a lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, and colleagues wrote in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that CVD was responsible for nearly 18 million deaths in 2019 alone and is the leading cause of death globally. In 2017, cancers were responsible for 9.6 million deaths.

“Both conditions top the global disease burden with respect to disability-adjusted life-years,” the researchers wrote. “Higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality, CVD and some site-specific cancers.”

The best evidence for these connections, Garcia and colleagues wrote, comes from meta-analyses looking at specific diseases, but “differing methods used in previous meta-analyses limit comparability of relative risks across different outcomes.”

So, the researchers sought to assess dose-response associations between exercise and health outcomes in the general adult population.

For the systematic review and cohort-level dose-response meta-analysis, Garcia and colleagues searched for prospective cohort studies that had general population samples of more than 10,000 adults, at least three physical activity categories and data for all-cause mortality or incidents of other diseases and cancers.

Ultimately, their analysis included 196 articles covering 94 cohorts with more than 30 million participants.

Garcia and colleagues found that 11 minutes a day of moderate-intensity physical activity would be enough to reduce the risk for health risks like heart disease, stroke and cancer, according to a press release.

They additionally found evidence of dose-dependent associations between more exercise and various CVD, cancer and mortality outcomes. They found the strongest associations for CVD and all-cause mortality, and weaker associations for cancer incidence. At 8.75 marginal metabolic equivalent of task-hours per week (mMET-hours/week) — which is equivalent to the recommended 150 min per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity — the researchers observed lower risks for:

• all-cause mortality (RR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.65-0.73);
• CVD mortality (RR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.66-0.77); and
• cancer mortality (RR = 0.85; 95% CI, 0.81-0.89).

Garcia and colleagues wrote that their findings support the current recommendations for physical activity “in that this exposure level generally seems to equate to maximum or near-to-maximal benefits.”

The researchers also reported that if all adults who were inactive achieved 8.75 mMET-hours per week, then 15.7% (95% CI, 13.1-18.2) of all premature deaths would have been avoided. However, the findings also indicated that 75 minutes per week or less of moderate activity — half of the recommended level — could also offer “appreciable health benefits,” Garcia and colleagues wrote.

“Moderate activity doesn’t have to involve what we normally think of exercise, such as sports or running. Sometimes, replacing some habits is all that is needed. For example, try to walk or cycle to your work or study place instead of using a car, or engage in active play with your kids or grand kids. Doing activities that you enjoy and that are easy to include in your weekly routine is an excellent way to become more active.” Garcia said in the release.

Soren Brage, PhD, MPhil, MSc, MRC Epidemiology Unit program leader for the University of Cambridge, said in the release that “if you are someone who finds the idea of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week a bit daunting, then our findings should be good news.”

“Doing some physical activity is better than doing none,” Brage said. “This is also a good starting position — if you find that 75 minutes a week is manageable, then you could try stepping it up gradually to the full recommended amount.”

References:

• Daily 11-minute brisk walk enough to reduce risk of early death, say Cambridge researchers. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/980574. Published Feb. 28, 2023. Accessed March 1, 2023.
• Garcia L, et al. Br J Sports Med. 2023;doi:10.1136/bjsports-2022-105669.