- If Americans over 40 walked as much each day as the most physically active members of the population, they could extend their life span by at least five years, a new study finds.
- The least physically active 25% of the population stood the most to gain, according to the predictive model: For each hour of walking they do, they can extend their life by about 6 hours.
- While the study may have limitations since it was based on existing data from certain portions of the American population, the findings do line up with known health benefits of physical activity, experts say.
If Americans over 40 walked as much each day as the most physically active members of the population, they could extend their life span by at least 5 years, a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has found.
Using a predictive model based on national Health data and Census information, the study’s authors found that the top 25% of the population in terms of physical activity each day generate the equivalent of 160 minutes of walking at nearly 3 miles per hour.
Matching that activity level, for the least physically active members of the population, could add an extra 11 years to their life expectancy.
The least physically active 25% of the population stood the most to gain, according to the predictive model: For each hour of walking they do, they can extend their life by about 6 hours.
Ryan Glatt, CPT, NBC-HWC, senior brain Health coach and director of the FitBrain Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today that walking reduces mortality risk at all levels of activity.
“The benefits are most significant for individuals who are inactive, as even small increases in physical activity substantially reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases and premature death,” Glatt said.
The study is observational, drawing from a life table of the 2019 United States population, mortality information from 2017, and physical activity data from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey.
It does not imply cause and effect, but the general health benefits of daily physical activity are well known, and a lack of it can lead to many mental and physical health problems.
Christopher Schneble, MD, Yale Medicine sports medicine physician and assistant professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine, who was also not involved with the study, told MNT that while the study may be limited because of its focus on existing sets of data, the findings track with what is well-established about physical activity and health.
“The results align well with multiple concepts we already know to be true from prior studies on how physical activity levels relate to Health and mortality risk,” Schneble said.
“I think this study provides additional evidence, despite its limitations, that going from a sedentary lifestyle to a more physically active lifestyle results in a meaningful reduction in mortality risk, and as activity level increases so does the risk reduction.”
Schneble explained that consistent exercise is clearly beneficial to our bodies compared with a lifestyle that is mostly sedentary. And walking is accessible to almost everyone, making it a simple and powerful tool for a Healthy life.
He told us that:
“Engaging in physical activity can result in improved preservation of bone density, improved strength, reduced body fat, and better cardiovascular health. It can also lead to improvements in both mood and cognitive function. Improving things like heart rate, blood pressure, or the amount of excess body fat can all help decrease how hard the heart must work to pump blood throughout the body, which in return is protective.”
“Since cardiovascular disease is a primary cause of mortality in older individuals (essentially the ages included in this study), it is not too surprising that a reduction in these risk factors could then lead to a decrease in cardiovascular mortality, and thus all-cause mortality,” he added.
Glatt further explained that other forms of exercise can be more daunting or difficult for people who are generally not physically active. But the overall benefits to walking are enormous, he noted.
“Walking differs from running or weight training in its lower intensity and accessibility, making it particularly effective for sedentary individuals. While running and weight training target different physiological systems, such as cardiovascular or musculoskeletal health, walking is easier to maintain and provides significant life expectancy benefits without the barriers often associated with more intense exercises,” Glatt said.
“There is no specific cutoff age for the benefits of walking,” Glatt said. “Even individuals who begin walking later in life can see meaningful improvements in health and life expectancy, though the extent of the benefit may depend on pre-existing health conditions. However, previously inactive individuals tend to experience the greatest relative gains.”
Schneble explained that looking at physical activity as a wasted effort later in life would be a mistake, if nothing else because it can improve so many elements of life but also eliminate the risks that come with aging.
“I think it will be hard to ever personally recognize the benefits, because in a sense they would be events that never happened; things like a heart attack, stroke, or a hip fracture that never occurred. I might argue that the most important thing is trying to maintain the highest level of fitness that you can, regardless of age,” Schneble told us.
“As we get older, our reserve tends to decrease, as does our maximal achievable fitness level. If we condition ourselves, we can place ourselves at a much better level of health that will better shield us from some of the modifiable perils that unavoidably come with aging. Just because the decision to focus on improving one’s health didn’t come at the perfect time to maximize things, that doesn’t mean there isn’t still substantial benefit to be gained,” he concluded.
