Adding 20 minutes of daily exercise reduces hospital stays, study finds

February 27, 2023 — According to a study published in JAMA Open Network said.

About 82,000 study participants in the UK aged 42 to 78 wore fitness trackers called accelerometers for a week between June 1, 2013 and December 23, 2015. Researchers followed for seven years, finding that an estimated 48,000 participants ended up in the hospital for many different reasons.

Researchers found that physically active participants had a lower risk of hospitalization, particularly in nine conditions: gallbladder disease, urinary tract infections, diabetes (type 1 and type 2), deep vein thrombosis, pneumonia, ischemic stroke, iron deficiency anemia, diverticulum disease and colon polyps.

The reduced risk of hospitalization ranged from 3.8% for colon polyps to 23% for diabetes, according to the study.

“These results suggest that increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity by 20 minutes per day may be a useful non-pharmaceutical intervention to reduce hospitalizations for many common health conditions, which could reduce hospital burdens and improve quality of life,” the study concluded.

Lead researcher Eleanor Watts of the US National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland said “Today“The study has limitations. The study didn’t prove exercise prevented the development of medical conditions, just that people weren’t hospitalized for them, she said. Moreover, almost all of the participants were white.

Overall, the study confirms other research that has shown that a person’s health improves with physical activity – and that exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous or strenuous to bring profit.