The study backs findings by other U.S. scientists, who warned that physical inactivity can hasten age-related decline.
The report, which examined over 200 cancer papers, reached the conclusion that physical inactivity raises risk for developing cancer.
As the study suggests, physical inactivity is more common in countries of high income than in those of low income.
With what we now know, public health guidelines should address both physical activity and physical inactivity, according to public health researchers.
The final report suggests that physical inactivity should be recognized as a global pandemic and should be treated like any other infectious-disease pandemic would be.
In adults, the majority of new cases will be Type 2 diabetes -- an illness associated with obesity, physical inactivity, family history of diabetes, and older age.
But according to the latest research, even when people do significant and regular exercise, they still increase their risks of serious illness from hours of physical inactivity.
Theories about why this is happening range from higher levels of obesity, higher density of calories in processed foods, and physical inactivity, to chemicals in food and water.
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In a series of articles in the Lancet timed to coincide with the Olympics, researchers from 16 countries set out the scale of the health burden created by physical inactivity.
"The role of physical inactivity continues to be undervalued despite robust evidence of its protective effects, " wrote Harold Kohl, a researcher at the University of Texas School of Public Health and lead author of this study.
"Physical inactivity is an issue that crosses many sectors and will require collaboration, coordination and communication with multiple partners, " he wrote, citing specifically city and community planners, transportation engineers, schools, parks and recreation officials and the media.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that physical inactivity is the main cause for 21-25 percent of colon and breast cancer, 27 percent of cases of diabetes, and up to 30 percent of cases of ischemic heart disease.
Excess sitting or physical inactivity has also been linked to causing up to 43, 000 cases of colon cancer and 49, 000 cases of breast cancer, based on a 2011 report from the American Institute for Cancer Research presented in November, 2011 in Washington, D.
As the author, Professor Bernard Stewart, an internationally-noted expert in cancer causation, points out, there is a remarkable scientific consensus on the causes of avoidable cancer, and they relate to lifestyle choices that people can actually do something about: smoking, poor diet, excessive drinking, obesity, physical inactivity, and exposure to the sun.
Hutching is particularly interested in research looking at the impact of inactivity on academic performance, and is trying to pass legislation to require more physical activity in Utah schools.
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