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Golf is associated with better balance and strength. © Shutterstock
According to public health experts, playing golf is very good for your overall health. It is associated with better balance and strength, a lower risk of heart disease, a sharper mind and a longer life. Thus, it is advisable for people to take up the sport.
At least twice a year an estimated 60 million people play golf. According to the Deccan Chronicle report, primarily golfers are middle-aged and older, white, male, affluent, male, and living in Europe, North America and Australia, experts note in the 2018 International Consensus Statement on Golf and Health published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Dr. Andrew Murray of the University of Edinburgh in the UK reportedly said that golf can provide an aerobic physical activity to persons of all ages, and strength and balance benefits to older adults.
Murray, the lead author of the consensus statement also reportedly said that regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health, decreasing the risk of heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, as well as dementia, depression and anxiety.
He also added that golf is not unique in providing this, and anything involving physical activity can be of great benefit. Golf additionally is green exercise, gives time to relax, and in a world where older adults are generally less active than youngsters, can be played from 3 to 103.
Murray and more than two dozen other experts in public health, health policy and industry reviewed data from 342 previously published studies on the sport to assess the physical and mental health benefits of golf and propose ways to make the sport more accessible to a wider population. The work was funded in part by the World Golf Foundation.
In fact, according to the experts, the risk of injury in golf is moderate, unlike other sports. But golfers may have a higher risk of skin cancer because golf is an outdoor activity. The authors' advice that to get the most benefit from the sport, golfers should play for at least 150 minutes a week and avoid riding in the golf cart. To lower their risk of injury players should also do warm-up and strengthening exercises. And to limit their risk of skin cancer they should use sunscreen and wear protective clothing.