“This research highlights the role of physical activity and sedentary behavior as modifiable factors that may enhance brain health and reduce the incidence of these diseases,” lead researcher Dr. Jia-Yi Wu of Fudan University in Shanghai, said in a news release. “It is promising to think that encouraging people to make these lifestyle changes could potentially lessen the burden of these diseases in the future.”
For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 73,000 U.K. residents with an average age of 56 who wore motion-tracking devices for seven days.
The devices monitored their physical activity, the energy they spent on those activities and the time they spent sitting each day.
The team used that data to quantify each person’s physical activity as metabolic equivalents, or METs.