At least 150 minutes of exercise per week could substantially reduce or offset the health risks of sitting for long periods of time, research suggests. The study, led by the University of Sydney in collaboration with Loughborough University, found that by replacing sitting with physical activity – but not standing – reduced the risk of premature death among people who...
The Physical Activity and Retirement Transitions Study (PARTS) was undertaken by Active Norfolk in partnership with UEA and funded by Sport England. The study set out to explore how retirement impacts on physical activity as well as the personal experiences, barriers and facilitators to being and keeping active whilst transitioning from work into retirement. The methods used in the PARTS include: -...
Health services must integrate a stronger focus on ensuring optimum nutrition at each stage of a person’s life, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is estimated that the right investment in nutrition could save 3.7 million lives by 2025. “In order to provide quality health services and achieve Universal Health Coverage, nutrition should be...
The latest data from a national smoking study indicates adult smoking rates fell 2.2% from January to July 2019. Figures from the University College London (UCL) Smoking Toolkit Study suggest that smoking rates in England are dropping at the fastest rate in over a decade, with around 200 fewer smokers every hour. Not smoking is now the norm in England -...
School children across the country are supporting ‘at risk’ older adults to lead healthy and happy lives through a new project developed by children’s charity the Youth Sport Trust and supported by GPs. The programme brings the two loneliest generations together to play sport and get active and has seen a GP surgery in Weymouth start to prescribe older adults at...
The first ever global trends for adolescent insufficient physical activity show that urgent action is needed to increase physical activity levels in girls and boys aged 11 to 17 years. The study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal and produced by researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO), finds that more than 80% of school-going adolescents globally...
The number of people who are obese in England has almost doubled in the last 20 years from 6.9 to 13 million, according to new analysis released by Diabetes UK. The figures from the Health Survey for England (1997-2017) estimate that there are now 13 million people over the age of 16 with a BMI of 30 or above which classifies...
As we age, our bones lose strength, but research at the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine has shown that just five minutes of exercise each day may benefit hip strength in postmenopausal women. Dr Katherine Brooke-Wavell, a senior lecturer in Human Biology in the University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, explained: “There are over 79,000 hip...
Labelling food and drinks with the amount and type of physical activity needed to burn off the calories in it might be a more effective way of encouraging people to make ‘healthier’ dietary choices, indicates research led by Loughborough University. Physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) food labelling aims to show how many minutes or miles of physical activity are needed to...
Walking and cycling are good for our physical and mental health. Switching more journeys to active travel will improve health, quality of life and the environment, and local productivity, while at the same time reducing costs to the public purse. These are substantial ‘win-wins’ that benefit individual people and the community as a whole. This briefing has been written for...
