Higher activity levels lessen chronic disease risk

Higher levels of total physical activity are strongly associated with lower risk of five common chronic diseases — breast and bowel cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, according to a study in The BMJ. The World Health Organization (WHO) already recommends a minimum total physical activity level of 600 metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes a week across different ‘domains’ of daily life, which can include being more physically active at work, doing more housework and gardening, and/or active transportation such as walking and cycling. However, we still do not definitively know how much the type and quantity of physical activity reduces…