SMALL CHANGES MATTER
Professor David Dunstan ( PhD) is researcher in the Baker Heat and Diabetes Institute and a Professor at the Deakin University. He came tonight to present ways to improve our health status by moving more and sitting less. This is contained within the way we manage the use of our time throughout the day, the period of twenty-four hours.
There are too many opportunities to not move. The goal is to sit less. The average Australian adult sits nine hours a day. The two essential questions one needs to ask:
1. How much time do you spend doing physical activity?
2. How much time do you spend sitting?
The more you sit, the more you increase the risk of Diabetes and cardiac issues. One should apply the Goldilocks principle, with a healthy balance for the twenty-four hours, and being just right. Death can be prevented by making smaller changes in the way you use your twenty-four hours. Even extra minutes per day of movement or moderate activity reduces death by ten percent.
Professor Dunstan discussed the use of Ozempic as a weight reduction medication, which dramatically reduces both weight and blood sugar levels. However, without proper nutritional support, after twelve months, fifty percent of people have ceased using the medication. What is required is the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle over a period of time. Also, the cost of the medication is prohibitive. He further noted that people on Ozempic may eat less, but they do not eat better. Professor Dunstan commented that one does not need to perspire to obtain benefits from moving. When asked about the cost-benefit analysis of standing, he argued that one has to stand quite frequently before there is any damage.
