Summary: We found that people who engage in moderate to active physical activity were significantly less likely to develop dementia, stroke, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders. Researchers used wearable devices to track activity levels and analyzed data from over 73,000 individuals who provided objective measures of movement and sedentary behavior.
People with higher energy expenditures were 14% to 40% less likely to develop these conditions, but increased time spent on the seat increased by up to 54%. These findings suggest that promoting physical activity may be an important strategy to reduce the burden of neurological and mental health disorders.
Important facts
Reduced disease risk: People with higher levels of physical activity were 14% to 40% less likely to develop dementia, stroke, anxiety, depression, or sleep disorders. The impact of central behavior: increased from 5% to 54% in increased risk of seat disease.
Source: aan
According to a preliminary study published on February 27, 2025, those who receive moderate to active physical activity may be less likely to develop dementia, stroke, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, according to a preliminary study published on February 27, 2025, at the 77th Annual Conference held in San Diego and online from April 5-9, 2025.
The study found that the longer people were sitting, the more likely they were to develop one of these diseases.
“This study highlights the role of physical activity and sedentary behavior as modifiable factors that can increase brain health and reduce the incidence of these diseases,” says Jia-Yi Wu, MD, from the University of Hudan, Shanghai, China.
“We are committed to believe that encouraging people to make these lifestyle changes could reduce the burden of these diseases in the future.”
Video Credit: Neuroscience News
From a large UK database, researchers looked at data from 73,411 people, average age 56 years old, who were constantly wearing the accelerometer device for seven days to measure physical activity, the amount of energy used for activities, and the amount of time they sat each day.
Metabolic equivalents (METS) were used to quantify energy expenditure. Moderate to active physical activity was defined as an activity with at least three metres of energy expenditure. Walking or cleaning is three metres, and more intense exercise like cycling can be around 6 Mets depending on the speed.
Those with moderate to active physical activity energy expenditure were 14% to 40% less likely to develop five diseases than those with low energy expenditures.
Those who did not develop the disease have an average moderate to active physical activity energy expenditure of 1.22 kilojoules per kilogram compared to 0.85 for those with dementia, 0.95 for those with stroke, 1.08 for depression and 1.10 for anxiety, with an average moderate to active physical activity energy expenditure of 1.22 kilojoules per kilogram.
The longer people are sitting, the higher the risk of developing one of the illnesses, and it is 5% to 54% higher than those who spent time sitting.
“Previous studies relied on people reporting their level of activity,” Wu said.
“Through the use of devices that provide objective measures of many participants and activity levels, these results will affect the evaluation of risk factors and developing interventions to prevent the onset of these diseases.”
A limitation of this study was that 96% of participants were white, so the results may not apply to other groups.
Funding: This research was supported by grants from Science and Technology Innovation 2030 – “Artificial Intelligence Inspired by Brain Science and Brain” major project.
About this exercise and news about brain health research
Author: Rennie Tessman
Source: aan
Contact: Renee Tessman – aan
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original Study: Findings will be presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Society
