Avoiding exercise as damaging as smoking

Lack of physical activity is just as dangerous, if not more dangerous than smoking, researchers claim.

All people, regardless of age, have to engage in physical activity at least two and a half hours a week to maintain their health.

This does not mean that you have to spend that time in the gym, enough to be two and a half hours walking, gardening, or housework, writes the Daily Mail.

Researchers from Harvard estimate that every year 57 million people worldwide die from the harmful effects of nicotine and that this number is far greater than the number of deaths caused by heart disease, intestine and breast cancer, and diabetes.

It's not surprising that physical inactivity causes more mortality cases than smoking, because only a third of the world's population consumes tobacco, while two-thirds are inactive”, said I-min Lee, the leading expert researcher from Harvard Medical School.

She adds that a lack of time cannot be taken as an excuse for not exercising because even walking to work is considered good physical activity.