HEALTH

If you stop worrying about not getting enough exercise and being stressed, you may live longer.

That’s the advice from an expert in psychological therapies, who insists that believing you are getting enough exercise can lead to better health.

Robin Bailey, senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, has published the advice which would seem to be encouraging the kind of complacency that is feeding Britain’s obesity epidemic.

But he insists it is based on sound scientific evidence.

A recent study of more than 60,000 US adults examined the link between perceptions of exercise and mortality.

The researchers found something curious – people who worried about being less active than others were up to 71% more likely to die in a follow-up period 21 years later, regardless of their actual levels of physical activity or overall health.

A study conducted by Harvard University saw a group of hotel workers told that their daily work fulfilled recommended exercise guidelines.

A second group was not given this information. After just one month, people in the informed group experienced a 10-point drop in blood pressure, two-pound weight loss (0.9kg) and improved body mass index.

Mr Bailey said: “Remember to praise yourself for the exercise and activity you do do. Don’t punish yourself for the exercise you don’t do. This may increase your motivation and provide a range of physical health benefits.

“Second, accept stress as a normal part of life and a natural survival mechanism for dealing with threats.

“It has been shown that when people shift to seeing stress as enhancing rather than debilitating, it can result in more positive outcomes.”

MARTIN BAGOT is the Mirror’s Health Correspondent