In general, pet owners have a higher level of physical activity, a healthy diet, and an ideal blood sugar level.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himIf there was still a need for further confirmation that our four-legged friends are good for health, here it is served on a silver platter. Thanks to the particularly active lifestyle that they induce us to lead, animals - and dogs in particular - improve our cardiovascular health.
All thanks to the walks in the open air that we take with them at least twice a day, which not only reduce stress, but are also good for the heart.
This is stated by the Kardiozive Brno 2030 study, which involved about 2 thousand individuals from the city of Brno, in the Czech Republic, whose basic health and socio-economic conditions were assessed and who will be followed up until 2030.
For this research, the researchers narrowed the sample to 1769 people who had never had heart disease before. All were scored based on Life's Simple 7, ben seven measures (body mass index, diet, physical activity, smoking status, blood pressure, blood sugar and total cholesterol) defined by the American Heart Association with which the individual profile and potential cardiovascular dangers are assessed.
The next step was to compare the profiles of the study participants, whether they were pet owners or not.
“In general, those who had a pet tended to report a higher level of physical activity, a healthy diet and an ideal level of blood glucose values - explains Andrea Maugeri, of St. Anne's University Hospital in Brno and author of the study. The greatest benefits related to the possession of a pet were the prerogative of those who had a dog, regardless of age, gender and level of education ". On cigarette parameters alone, there were no significant differences between all participants.
In short, the result is only one: adopting a pet undoubtedly guarantees the improvement of one's cardiovascular health, in line with World Health Organization guidelines that an adult should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 higher-intensity aerobic physical activity for iron health.
What are you waiting for then? Here are 10 other good reasons to bring home (at least) a dog!
Read also:
- Pets are good for the heart. As long as you fight for them
- 5 ways to stay fit with your dog
Germana Carillo
