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Sports are far more important to life and health than smoking
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Doctors are now recommended to ask patients not how much they weigh or how many cigarettes they smoke per day, but how physically active they are. Because this factor is much more important for life and health than other signs. Lack of physical activity harms human health much more than smoking, obesity or diabetes. And therefore doctors actively encourage their patients to walk more than 30 minutes per day. A group of scientists from Canada, America and Australia believe that lack of physical activity leads to cases of fatal cancer and heart disease.
However, being active can prevent hip fractures and there is evidence that it can stop dementia. Professors at the University of British Columbia say that high levels of physical activity are the single most important factor influencing a person’s health. It is more important than blood pressure or the number of breaths per minute. In the United States, more people die as a result of decreased physical activity than from smoking, obesity and diabetes. And it is not about weight, but about movement.
Physical activity affects all systems and organs of the human body. If the body does not receive enough energy, then a number of diseases develop in it. And this does not mean that you need to play sports like an Olympic champion. 2.5 hours of active walking is quite enough. But the more, the better. Low physical fitness is a better predictor of mortality than obesity and arterial hypertension. And therefore, experts recommend mass promotion of fitness and physical exercise.
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