Here is the dilemma: is it better to go out to exercise in our polluted cities or stay at home – with the risks that sedentary life implies – to avoid bad fumes?
Well, according to a new study conducted at the University of Copenhagen, the good that physical activity does outweighs the negative effects of pollution .
"Even in the most polluted areas of Copenhagen, it is healthier to run, take a walk or cycle to work than to be inactive, " says Zorana Jovanovic Andersen, one of the authors of the research, published in Enviromental Health Perspectives. Anyway, Jovanovic recommends that we try to play sports in the green areas.
Danish researchers analyzed the habits of 52,061 people between the ages of 50 and 65 in Copenhagen and Aarhus from 1993 to 1997, crossing these data with the pollution levels of the cities where they resided and the mortality rate up to 2010.
The result is that individuals who exercised regularly were 20% less likely to die than those who stayed home, even if they lived in the most polluted areas.
The interesting thing would be to carry out similar studies in other more polluted cities in the world to see if the results are repeated.
