The necessity of physical activity for human health is indisputable, but this is easily forgotten when it comes to elderly people. A newly published study has revealed that the main source of reduced physical abilities as people age is not their biological makeup, but rather the individual’s self-restriction of movement.
It is known that inactivity increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and many cancer diseases. However, the ease of life has led people to reduce their physical activities. This newly published study highlights how humans evolved through physical activity and the need for it today.
“Humans have evolved to stay active”
A paper entitled ‘The active grandparents hypothesis’ has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showing that humans evolve to stay active when they get older. In the article written by evolutionary biologists, the effect of physical activity on healthy and long life was proven once again. Biologists claimed that only the last generations of humans were able to stretch their legs, and that this was highly effective in adapting to evolution. Contrary to popular belief that human lifespans were short until recently, he showed that hunter-gatherers who survived infancy and childhood lived for about 20 more years after they stopped breeding.
The researchers debunked myths that prehistoric humans had short life spans and that older people were relatively sedentary, noting that physical activity would prevent health problems despite other biological processes. “The important point is that since we evolve throughout our lives, our bodies need physical activity to age well. Daily physical activity was essential for survival in the past, but today we don’t have to. Today we have to exercise,” said evolutionary biologist David E. Liberman, lead author of the study. “Do physical activity for health,” he said.
We need action not to get old, stay young or survive, but to have a healthy development process. Physical activity levels around the world have been severely constrained by tools that have replaced human labor. Researchers emphasized the necessity of taking inspiration from our ancestors and maintaining physical activity, which was a necessity in prehistoric times, with this awareness, in these times when our movements are restricted, regardless of the old and young.
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