For women aged 30 and older, being a couch potato could be more hazardous to their heart health than smoking or being overweight, says researchers in Australia.
Canadian women are less likely to take up exercise and stick with it. They are also more likely to become inactive as they get older. Men are not much more active.
The researchers studied data from more than 32,000 women and weighed how smoking, high blood pressure, physical inactivity and high body mass index contribute to the likelihood of developing heart disease across the lifespan of females.
For women under 30 years old, smoking is the most important risk factor for heart disease, according to this study. Researchers suggest that may be because women often quit smoking when they become mothers.
The study from the Centre for Research on Exercise, Physical Activity and Health at the University of Queensland was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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