Two recent studies have confirmed that adding just 5 minutes to daily exercise and sleep, while reducing sitting time by 30 minutes, may contribute to extending lifespan and reducing mortality rates.
In detail, one of the studies explained that simple lifestyle adjustments, such as adding 5 minutes of exercise or reducing sitting for half an hour a day, can help extend lifespan.
These results, published in “The Lancet,” show that minor and applicable adjustments to daily activity can prevent up to 20% of deaths.
Extending Lifespan:
It has been found that walking at a moderate pace for an additional 5 minutes per day is associated with a decrease in mortality of approximately 10% among the majority of adults who engage in physical activity for 17 minutes per day.
By doubling this duration to an additional 10 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per day, the overall reduction in mortality rises to about 15%.
As for individuals who tend to be inactive, and who engage in only two minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per day, adding another 5 minutes is associated with a decrease in mortality of approximately 6%, and adding another 10 minutes is associated with a decrease of 9%.
Reducing Sitting Time:
The study also showed that reducing sitting time by one hour per day is associated with a decrease in mortality of 13% among the majority of adults.
The World Health Organization recommends that adults engage in 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, but many do not achieve this goal.
Given that not everyone is likely to achieve these goals, the authors of the article investigated the impact of “realistic and achievable behavioral changes,” such as walking for a short period or reducing sitting time by half an hour.
It was found that reducing sedentary time by 30 minutes per day, equivalent to 5% of total sedentary time among adults, is associated with preventing more than 7% of deaths.
Extra Sleep and More Vegetables:
The second study, published in the journal “eClinicalMedicine,” showed that slight changes in sleep and nutrition habits may affect longevity.
According to the analysis, an extra 5 minutes of sleep and an extra half serving of vegetables per day may add a year to the lives of people who have the worst combination of sleep, physical activity, and diet.
The study pointed out that sleeping for 7 to 8 hours a day, engaging in moderate to vigorous physical activity for more than 40 minutes a day, and following a healthy diet are all factors associated with good health and an increase in lifespan of more than 9 years, compared to people with the worst habits.
