Only 1 in 11 at-risk workers took up exercise after one health talk
Who it’s about: Workers, Adults
- No comparison
About 1 in 11 took up exercise in a year, more often people who already walked or tried to change.
Large observational study of 16,471 Japanese workers at risk of metabolic syndrome · can't show cause · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show
The study
Who took part
About 16,500 Japanese workers aged 40 to 64, about 49 on average. About 7 in 10 were men, all at high risk of metabolic syndrome, and none of them exercised at the start.
What they did
Everyone had one health advice session from a health worker, as part of Japan's national plan. The researchers did not test the session itself. They looked at which things about people at the start went along with exercise a year later.
What happened
A year later, 1,507 people (about 9 in 100) said they now exercised at least 30 minutes, twice a week or more. Those who started were more often already walking or active (43 in 100, against 24) or trying to change (19 against 10). These clues did a poor job of telling who would start, and some of the paper's numbers don't add up.
Source
Factors associated with acquiring exercise habits through health guidance for metabolic syndrome among middle-aged Japanese workers: A machine learning approach (2024)
DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102915 (opens in a new tab)
