Upon studying nine years of data from the Canadian Community Health Survey throughout the 2000s and early-2010s, a team of researchers uncovered an association between a lack of physical activity and the risk of stroke.
According to the study, released in the journal Stroke, researchers examined more than 140,000 participants and nearly 3,000 stroke events, in which the risk of stroke was found to be higher in people with at least eight hours of sedentary time (e.g., electronics use and television consumption) and low levels of physical activity.
“We used 9 years of the Canadian Community Health Survey between 2000 and 2012 to create a cohort of healthy individuals without prior stroke, heart disease, or cancer,” the study reads.
“Excess leisure sedentary time of 8+ hours/day is associated with increased risk of long-term stroke among individuals <60 years of age with low PA." "These findings support efforts to enhance PA and reduce sedentary time in younger individuals," researchers concluded in their study. The study was authored by Raed Joundi, Scott Patten, Jeanne Williams, and Eric Smith.
