A research paper written by a undergraduate student shows that the risk of chronic lifestyle diseases decreases when the person concentrates on leisure activities.
The paper, written by final year medical student at JJ hospital, Udit Dalmia, won the first price in Medicon 2011, an international conference held at JJ this month. His guide was Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar, assistant professor, Preventive and Social Medicine department, at JJ hospital.
Dalmia scouted health screening camps organised by charitable institutions and surveyed 371 patients. About half of these patients suffered from chronic lifestyle diseases like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and chronic joint pain, while the other half did not.
“I modified the International Physical Activity Questionnaire formulated by World Health Organisation (WHO),” said Dalmia. Dalmia then associated the prevalence of the disease with total activity score (TAS). “The study showed that leisure time activities have more impact as compared to just having a strenuous work schedule,” said Dalmia.
The study also shows that as age of the person increases, the activity of the person decreases. However, in the presence of diabetes, hypertension or chronic joint disorder, the TAS does not decrease with increasing age. “This means that a 20-year-old diabetic has same activity as a 60 year old. Diabetics have a lower physical activity level and age cannot decrease TAS below this level. This level could be defined as basal physical activity level of that person which requires further research,” said Dalmia.
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