Researchers looked at how individuals’s daily activities changed before, during, and after holidays and discovered that even with a short three-day break, people exhibited more active, healthier habits.
Over the course of the 13-month study period, people typically took two to three vacations, each lasting about 12 days. Outdoor activity (35%) was the most popular sort of vacation, followed by “family/social events” (31%), “rest and relaxation” (17%), and “non-leisure pursuits” (17%), such as helping others or making house improvements.
It shown, specifically, that people:
engaged in five minutes (or 13% more) of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)
were 29 minutes per day (or 5% less) less sedentary
slept daily increase of 4% (or 21 more minutes).
According to Dr. Ty Ferguson of UniSA, research shows that people behave more healthily while on vacation.
Because they aren’t tied to their regular schedule while on vacation, people change their daily obligations, according to Dr. Ferguson.
In this study, we discovered that movement patterns improved when people went on vacation, with universally higher levels of physical activity and lower levels of sedentary behavior.
“This study provides empirical evidence that people have healthier lifestyle patterns when they have a short break, such as a three-day weekend. This increase in physical activity and sleep is expected to have positive effects on both mental and physical health, contributing to the benefits observed with a four-day work week.
“Importantly, our study also showed that even after a short holiday, people’s increased sleep remained elevated for two weeks, showing that the health benefits of a three-day break can have lasting effects beyond the holiday itself.
“As the world adapts to a new normal, perhaps it’s time to embrace the long weekend as a way to boost our physical and mental health.”
