New research has revealed that Irish farmers are 7 times more likely to die from heart disease than people in other professions.
Additionally, it is now believed that almost half suffer from high blood pressure and cholesterol.
The findings were reported recently at the annual conference of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists, and revealed that while farmers generally get a lot of exercise, it is not the right kind of exercise to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Denise Dunne, who is the chairwoman of the Chartered Physiotherapists in Cardiac Services group, recently published a paper in the Journal of Agromedicine which examined the level of activity among farmers in the midwest of Ireland.
In the study, it was found that Irish midwestern farmers performed almost 16,500 steps per day on average, and 124 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical exercise. However, this was usually performed in bursts of less than 10 minutes.
Current health consensus seems to indicate that 150 to 130 minutes of moderate exercise, or just 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week can be enough to prevent significant risk of heart disease. However, vitally, these must be added up in periods of over 10 minutes, and should challenge the heart, making the person working out and out-of-breath and sweaty.
While farmers are generally in shape and have positive attitudes to exercise according to research, the fitness routines they engage in may not be sufficient to protect them from cardiovascular health risks.
The conference recommended that farmers sit down less during the day and try to exercise for more sustained periods of time, longer than 10 minutes in one session.