Young professionals sleep less, do not workout: Study

When young adults begin their professional life their amount of daily physical activity as well as sleep essential for healthy wellbeing falls steeply according to a study on TuesdayThe study led by scientists at the University of Cambridge found that physical activity increases initially and later drops down significantlyYoung adults who increased their physical activity were those doing semiroutine occupations such as bus driving or hairdressing and routine occupations such as cleaning or waiting or technical jobsConversely people entering managerial or professional occupations did not engage in physical activityThe largest drop in levels of physical activity was seen among people who work from home though their sleep levels did not change when they started workIf we want to stay healthy throughout our lives we need to remember that keeping active is an important way of helping us achieve this goal said Alena Oxenham from the Medical Research Council MRC Epidemiology Unit at the varsityOxenham advised people working from home ldquoto consider incorporating physical activity into their day She suggested going for a walk before or after work or during a lunch breakrdquoFor the study the team examined repeated data taken over time from more than 3000 participants in the UK All the participants were aged 1630 years and started work for the first time between 2015 and 2023The results published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity showed that when people started work their physical activity increased by an amount equivalent to around 28 minutes of moderate activity such as cycling per day on averageHowever this each year after starting work by around seven minutes per dayThe biggest increase was seen among males up by an equivalent of around 45 minutes of moderate activity per day compared to an increase of around 16 minutes for femalesThe young adults sleep per night also dropped immediately by almost 10 minutes the researchers saidThe researchers urged workplaces to promote healthy interventions like healthier diets physical activity and sleep in young adults to boost healthier employees and fewer sick daysThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever