This day is known as “Goldilocks Day” and is a “just right” way to allocate time for various activities to maintain optimal health.
Sounds like a handy guide to life, right? But is it possible?
There are already guidelines How much physical activity should adults do each week?. So how many hours do we need to stand, sit, and sleep each day?
new australian Research published in Diabetologica Analyze your daily activity by hour to reduce your risk of cardiometabolic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease.
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The study, by Swinburne University and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, analyzed more than 2,000 people in the Netherlands, 684 of whom had type 2 diabetes.
Participants had their waist circumference, blood sugar, insulin levels, cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood) measured over seven days.
Researchers determined the best days for cardiometabolic health by looking at how participants who had the healthiest results allocated their time.
Christian Brakenridge, from the Swinburne Center for Urban Transition, led the study and said the action plan was “like a north star” and something to aim for.
“I think people may balk at the idea of strong quantitative guidelines like this, but the key message here is to encourage people to sit less, move more and sleep the right amount of time. That’s what we really want,” says Dr. Brakenridge.
The average Australian sits for around eight hours a day, while desk-based office workers can spend around 10 hours sitting.
And most of us only do two hours of physical activity each day (this is light and moderate activity combined). This is about half the time that research recommends.
Light physical activity includes slow walking or doing housework, while moderate to vigorous activity includes brisk walking, jogging, or difficult tasks such as shoveling snow.
Dot Dumuid is a time-use epidemiologist at the University of South Australia. She has spent years researching the healthiest ways to spend our time.
She provided statistics on the new study, noting its focus on cardiometabolism. Risk factor.
“I like to also take other outcomes into account in research, such as cognitive ability.”
Dr. Dumuid notes that very few study participants completed four hours of daily activity.
”There may be a few super-achievers…but for many, that’s not possible.
“You might be able to do that, but you would have to give up something else.”
And the trade-offs in this activity are where things get interesting.
adjust the levers of life
A perfect day for your heart may be completely different than a perfect day for your brain.
Dr. Dumuid studies the “optimal” 24-hour period for a variety of health outcomes, and is particularly interested in what happens when you spend more time in one category. and put it on another.
For example, physical activity is great for heart health. But if it comes at the expense of sleep, Dr. Dumuid says, it can be harmful for people with anxiety or depression.
And if you want to optimize your academic performance and cognitive function, you need to spend more time sitting than moving. That’s because that’s the time we usually study, read, or play music.
While Dr. Dumuid isn’t yet contemplating a “Goldilocks Day” for adults, she says it’s most beneficial for the mental, physical and cognitive functioning of 11- and 12-year-olds.
But even with kids, priorities can change, and if exams are coming up, students may need to temporarily adjust the dial to manage their time differently.
To help with this, Dr. Dumid has developed a. online tools This allows students to rank what’s most important to them and get a more personalized 24-hour breakdown.
“One size rarely fits all in population health,” she says.
multiple best days
No matter how much time we want to spend being happy and healthy, not everyone has complete control over how they spend their days.
There can be many limitations depending on where you live, your income, and whether your abilities are limited by things like chronic health conditions.
And the mix of daily activities the researchers looked at in the new study didn’t incorporate things like social interactions that could improve mental and physical health.
So how many hours a day should you spend socializing? Recent research in Nature It turns out that there is no universal balance between solitude and sociability.
In fact, solitude (if one chooses to do so) can reduce stress levels.
This is another reason why Dr. Dumuid believes that no single day is optimal for overall health.
Instead, someday we may experience multiple “best days” with different purposes.
“In the future, you might wake up and decide, ‘Okay, I want to prioritize my mental health today, so let’s look at my options.’
“Then you can focus on something else the next day. That way you can balance your week and have a good, healthy week.”
Dr. Brakenridge hopes his findings will be used by the federal government to update current health guidelines to better reflect the full range of human behavior.
He says Australia should take note. Canada established the world’s first 24-hour travel guidelines It tells you how much time adults should spend on things like aerobic exercise, muscle building, sleeping, sitting, and screen time.
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