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Fitness
Urgent wake-up call for India: Lancet study shows half of Indians physically unfit. Here’s how to begin exercising
According to a recent study published in The Lancet Global Health journal, 57% of women in India were found to be insufficiently physically active, compared to men (42%), in line with trends across the South Asian region while almost 50% of adults in India engaged in insufficient levels of physical activity in 2022. Additionally, an international team of researchers, including those from the World Health Organization (WHO), claimed that the South Asian region also ranked the second highest in terms of adults being insufficiently physically active after high-income Asia Pacific region.
If the current trends continue, the study projected that by 2030, 60% of the adults could be insufficiently engaging in physical activity as in India, a little over 22% of the adults engaged in insufficient physical activity in the year 2000 while in 2010, close to 34% of the adults were insufficiently physically active. This raises an urgent wake-up call for India as a 2023 Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study, published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal, estimated that 101 million people in India were diabetic in 2021 and about 315 million had hypertension the same year.
India’s Fitness Challenge:
Given our deteriorating health graph, it is crucial to start our fitness journey now and adopt actionable steps to get active and begin exercising. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Manish Pendse, Senior Consultant Physician and Diabetologist at Medicover Hospitals in Navi Mumbai, shared, “Poor lifestyles and unhealthy food choices are some of the main reasons behind the major population being unfit. People tend to choose processed, packaged, or junk food instead of eating healthy food. This significantly hampers their health resulting in several health issues like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, digestive problems, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, stroke and skin problems.”
What You Can Do Now:
Dr Manish Pendse asserted, “It becomes essential to indulge in physical activities or exercise, to keep your body fit and away from multiple diseases. Your fitness regime could include low-impact exercises like walking, jogging, meditation and Yoga and intense physical activities like running, cardio, weight lifting, and hitting the gym. Being physically active for at least 30 to 40 minutes daily can stimulate metabolism helping in managing weight.”
The health expert suggested, “Eat well-balanced food that contains equal amounts of essential nutrients like protein, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and omega-3 fatty acids. Make healthy food choices that are low in calories, cholesterol, and saturated fats, and contain sugar, and salt in moderation. Keep a daily track of your body weight to see if you are gaining weight or losing weight. This can help you create a tailored plan to maintain your physical and psychological health.”
He cautioned, “Avoid unhealthy habits like drinking alcohol, chewing tobacco, smoking, sitting in one place for prolonged hours without taking adequate breaks and eating at unusual hours. Consult your doctor for expert guidance and tips to maintain fitness in this fast-paced life. Stress also leads to weight gain and gastric problems, It is imperative to de-stress by doing activities that calm you down.”
An expert has suggested that short bursts of exercise, lasting less than a minute, could be beneficial for those who find it difficult to maintain regular workout routines. These intense bouts, dubbed “exercise snacks”, are particularly recommended for individuals who lead sedentary lifestyles, such as those battling obesity or chronic diseases.
Bruno Gualano, an associate professor at the Centre of Lifestyle Medicine at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, suggests activities like stair climbing or brief cycling sessions, separated by hours-long intervals. The NHS advises adults to engage in 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate activity, but encourages adults to increase this to 300 minutes for additional health benefits. However, during his presentation at the International Congress on Obesity in Sao Paulo, Mr Gualano acknowledged that many people struggle to meet these targets and proposed that short bursts could counteract the detrimental effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
“To mitigate the negative impacts of prolonged sitting, ‘exercise snacks’ are proposed as a practical alternative,” he added. “These are brief, intense bursts of activity (one minute or less), which can be more time-efficient than traditional exercise regimes.”
He highlighted that numerous studies have demonstrated benefits for cardiorespiratory fitness and vascular health from these short bursts of activity.
“For instance, hourly stair-based exercise snacks improved vascular health in a trial with healthy males, while another study demonstrated their feasibility and benefits for people who are overweight or living with obesity,” he added. “However, many people may struggle to implement exercise snacks owing to practical reasons, such as bus drivers or people who have physical disabilities and/or low exercise capacity, such as older individuals.”
Mr Gualano highlighted the potential advantages of incorporating “exercise snacks” into daily routines, noting improvements in metabolic health and reduced sedentary time. “These benefits may be achieved even with unstructured, very light activities, which do not fit exactly in the category of exercise snacks,” he explained.
He pointed out that this approach could be easily adopted in various settings, including at home or in the office, since it doesn’t require any special equipment or devices.
Emphasising the need for more research to fully understand the long-term effects and safety of these short bursts of activity, Mr Gualano concluded: “The take-home message is that these strategies should be personalised.”
After 14 weeks, I’d lost a stone and was down to 7st 8lbs, and my tummy had shrunk back down. In addition, my biometric scales were also showing me how much fat I was losing and muscle I was gaining. My skeletal muscle mass has always been low – I’ve been warned about it before by my GP, and I knew that I was in danger of getting osteoporosis. Now my muscle mass is above average, and it makes me so happy to think that I’m future-proofing my body. I don’t want to be that little old lady that falls over and snaps. Pleasingly, the machine at the gym which measures metabolic age (body composition), tells me I’m down to 38 years old.
I’ve just bought the dress I’m going to wear to my daughter’s wedding this summer, and I feel amazing in it. It’s very unforgiving, and I wouldn’t have had the confidence to wear it before, but now I can’t wait to wear it and to thoroughly enjoy her beautiful day.
Exercise
Before, I walked and did a bit of yoga or Pilates, but not regularly. Now I have five resistance sessions per week, either with a personal trainer or using an app called Sweat; I do things like kettlebell swings, squats with weights, and weighted lunges. I do the odd Park Run, which I hadn’t done for 15 years, and have started doing a few 5k runs on the treadmill before a session. I also do lots of walking, which really helps clear my head.
Oona’s top tips
- Don’t fall into a guilt spiral: If you indulge in a treat, don’t waste time feeling guilty about it – as I used to – and then write the rest of the day off with mad eating. Just think, I ate or drank that, I enjoyed it, now it’s time to start again.
- A little bit of planning really helps you stay on track. That could be quickly jotting down what you’re planning to eat that day, to help you stick to it, taking a snack in your bag, or batch cooking some meals in advance.
- Visualise where you want to be, be that an event in the future like a holiday or feeling strong in your later years. It helps you stay on track when your motivation is waning.
As told to Jessica Salter
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