Everyday steps can help fight obesity: IMA

Taking the elevator from the first floor instead of the ground floor, using land phones at home instead of mobiles, and trying to use less of the remote control while watching television were some of the ways to fight obesity, according to the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

The IMA also suggested parking cars a few minutes' distance away from the destination, exercising while watching TV and making it a point to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.

"Twice as many premature deaths can be attributable to lack of physical activity compared with the number of deaths attributable to obesity," the IMA said in a statement.

"Inactivity is defined as having a sedentary job with no reported recreational physical activity," IMA national president A. Marthanda Pillai and secretary general K.K. Aggarwal were quoted as saying.

As per the IMA's recommendation, just a little bit of exercise, such as 20 minutes of walking a day, was extremely beneficial regardless of whether people were overweight or obese or not.

A recent study published online Jan 14 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also said just a small amount of physical activity each day could have substantial health benefits for people who were physically inactive.

"Although we found that just 20 minutes would make a difference, we should really be looking to do more than this. Physical activity has many proven health benefits and should be an important part of our daily life," the experts said.