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Indians must exercise all 7 days to stay fit: study

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-18 17:11

NEW DELHI -- While the Westerners need five-day-a-week workout, Indians must exercise all seven days to stay fit, said a recent study published by Journal of Association of Physicians of India.

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Over 100 medical experts, doctors and researchers from across the country, said in a joint study that Indians must undertake 60 minutes of physical activity every day, such as aerobic activity, work-related activity and muscle strengthening activity.

Physical activity can be accumulated throughout the day in blocks as short as 10 minutes. Work-related activity should be encouraged wherever possible, said the study.

Children should undertake at least 60 minutes of outdoor physical activity. They must spend less than two hours a day watching television or on the computer, the study said.

The study said that at Waist Circumference (WC) men at 78 centimeters and women at 72 centimeters must not gain any further weight.

The currently recommended cut-offs of Body Mass Index (BMI) recommended by World Health Organization are largely based on the morbidity and mortality data from the white Caucasian populations.

These may not apply to all ethnic groups, particularly Indians. WHO left to governments of respective Asian countries to take a decision of guidelines for BMI. Hence a separate this study was undertaken.