Click on right here for extra articles by Kormedi.com.
Korean staff now face the longest commute time on this planet, averaging 108 minutes a day — a burden that specialists warn has grow to be a severe risk to public well being, far past mere inconvenience.
A latest research revealed within the Proceedings of the Nationwide Academy of Sciences by researchers on the Autonomous College of Barcelona and McGill College discovered that Korea ranked first amongst 43 surveyed nations in commute period. The worldwide common commute was 68 minutes, and Morocco had the shortest at 48 minutes — lower than half of Korea’s determine.
Lengthy commutes linked to weight problems, hypertension, larger mortality
Cho Soo-hyun, a household medication professor at Chung-Ang College Hospital, stated that lengthy commuting hours cut back time for bodily exercise and socializing, and sometimes result in late dinners and poor sleep. “These components may cause weight achieve, decreased train capability and hypertension,” she stated.
Worldwide analysis factors to related dangers. A research from Washington College Faculty of Medication discovered that individuals with commuting distances of greater than 24 kilometers had been considerably extra more likely to develop weight problems and lack of train. Much more hanging, Sweden’s Umea College tracked people for 14 years and located that girls with lengthy commutes had a 54 p.c larger mortality charge than ladies with shorter journey instances.
Prolonged commuting erodes important well being routines resembling sleep, train and leisure actions. Cho warned, “Stress attributable to lengthy commutes can improve blood sugar, blood strain and levels of cholesterol, elevating the chance of heart problems and even loss of life.” She added that individuals with lengthy commutes are extra susceptible to melancholy, anxiousness, social isolation, irritability, cognitive decline, poor sleep high quality and musculoskeletal issues.
Specialists say many staff can not realistically shorten their commute resulting from housing prices and job places, making in-transit well being administration more and more essential.
Lee Sang-yoon, a rehabilitation medication professor at Chung-Ang College Hospital, suggested, “When sitting on public transportation, keep away from crossing your legs, sit together with your hips near the backrest, and maintain your neck, again and shoulders straight to scale back stress on the backbone and joints.”
He added that individuals who stand throughout their commute ought to stretch their knees and ankles recurrently and repeatedly carry and decrease their heels. “If utilizing a smartphone or studying, flip your neck left and proper each 20 minutes to forestall stiffness,” he stated.
This text from Kormedi.com, Korea’s prime well being care and medical portal, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Occasions.
