PATNA: Physical activity is the panacea for all ills caused by sedentary lifestyle. Doctors advise isotonic activities, like walking, jogging and stretching, for beginners and isometric exercises, like weightlifting or dumbbell workouts, for the others.According to a World Health Organisation report of June last year, the number of obese people has almost doubled since 1980. In 2014, 41 million children under 5 and at least 1.9 billion adults were overweight."Urban lifestyle, which hardly offers any space for physical activity and even movement, also leads to depression, chronic diseases and early ageing," says Dr Amrendra Prasad Singh, assistant professor of medicine at Patna Medical College and Hospital.People should exercise every day as it has immense health benefits. The young ones should run; people between 30 to 40 years should go for jogging and those above 40 can do brisk walking for at least 40 minutes every day, said Dr Singh.According to him, human immunity system builds up over time. After exercise, brain releases a hormone called endorphin which combats body aches and keeps a person cheerful.State IMA vice-president Dr Ajay Kumar blames excessive use of cellphones and other gadgets for lifestyle diseases. "Cellphone addiction is a health hazard. People, especially children, hardly move out in the open and hardly indulge in any physical activity," he said and added brisk physical activities could prevent a number of diseases.Asked what's the most beneficial for health among walking, running, swimming, cycling, skating etc, the IMA functionary said brisk walking is medically the best form of exercise.Dr Diwakar Tejaswi points out walking is much easier in a city like Patna than cycling because there are no separate lanes for bicycles. But running or jogging burns more calories than normal walking for the same time period, he said.The Netherlands is one of the healthiest countries because, said Dr Tejaswi, people there prefer cycling as their normal mode of transportation. "Even in Australia or the USA, people walk a lot as metro stations are far away from their workplace. Men, women and children walking for 2km or so are a common sight on many foreign shores, but we Indians have this habit of driving to the doorstep of our destinations," he said.Dr Tejaswi also advises that the choice of activity should be made with caution. "Those having palpitation issues should avoid any rigorous exercise. Before moving out for a walk or exercise, diabetics should eat something and always keep a chocolate in pocket which should be consumed immediately in case sugar level goes down," he said.

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