Sofa potatoes, beware! According to new research, being sedentary more than doubles the risk of dying from COVID-19.
A study on the effect of exercise on 48,440 patients diagnosed from January 1 to October 21, 2020 concluded that inactivity was the third risk factor for serious disease, worse than heart disease, diabetes or smoking, according to eurekalert.org.
The results, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that patients with coronaviruses who were constantly inactive were 1.73 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU than those who were always active.
The odds of death were even higher, with constantly inactive patients 2.49 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared with patients who were constantly active.
“This is an alarm call for the importance of healthy lifestyles and especially physical activity,” said Dr. Robert Sallis, a physician at Kaiser Permanent Fontana Medical Center.
“Kaiser Permanente’s motivation is to keep people healthy, and this study really demonstrates the importance it has during this pandemic and beyond. People who exercise regularly have the best chances of overcoming COVID-19, while people who were inactive did so much worse, ”he added.
The study, led by researchers at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, also found that even patients who were inconsistently active were less likely to suffer from serious illness, suggesting that any activity is beneficial.
To reach their conclusions, the researchers collected data on how many days the students did moderate to intense exercise each week and, on average, how many minutes they spend doing that exercise.
The subjects — 62% of whom were women and whose average age was 47 — reflected the diversity of the racial composition of the Southern California population.
Of the total, 6.4 percent were constantly active and 14.4 percent were constantly inactive, with the rest falling into the inconsistent asset category.
Among all patients, 8.6% were hospitalized, 2.4% were admitted to the ICU, and 1.6% died.
“What surprised me most about this study was the strength of the association between inactivity and poor COVID-19 outcomes,” said co-author Deborah Rohm Young, PhD, of the Department of Research and Evaluation. Southern California.
“Even after including variables such as obesity and smoking in the analysis, we still saw that inactivity was strongly associated with much higher probabilities of hospitalization, ICU admission, and death compared to an activity. moderate physics or any activity, ”he added.
Sallis offered a simple recipe.
“Walk 30 minutes a day, five days a week at a moderate pace and this will provide you with a huge protective effect against COVID-19,” he said.
“I continue to believe that exercise is a medicine that everyone should take, especially in this era of COVID-19.”
