Walking is one of the easiest ways to get your health on track, especially if you’re trying to lose weight, improve balance, or manage health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes. The basic form of exercise can also relieve stress and anxiety and improve memory. However, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, walking for a certain amount of time every day could also add up to 11 years to your life.
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The study drew on 20 years' worth of data, including physical activity risk estimates provided by fitness trackers used in the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey for adults over 40. The authors also looked at National Center for Health Statistics death records from 2017, and 2019 U.S. Census population data.
Data revealed that the top 25 percent of active Americans over the age of 40 were averaging 160 minutes of walking every day. At this rate, individuals were reaching speeds of up to three miles per hour. Researchers then applied these findings to a model study that could interpret how walking impacts someone’s longevity based on their level of physical activity.
Overall, the study suggests that walking 160 minutes per day could add almost six years to one's life. This would bring the average life expectancy age from 78.6 to 84. However, according to their findings, adults over 40 in the least active 25 percentile could add an additional six years to their lives with this walking regimen.
It’s estimated that those considered “least active” could increase their life expectancy by 11 years if they added an extra hour and 41 minutes of walking, bringing the grand total to 4 hours and 52 minutes.
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“Our findings suggest that [physical activity] provides substantially larger health benefits than previously thought, which is due to the use of more precise means of measuring [it],” wrote the authors. “The greatest gain in lifetime per hour of walking was seen for individuals in the lowest activity quartile where an hour’s walk could add an impressive six hours to life.”
To encourage a countrywide walking initiative, the study’s authors acknowledged that more communities would need to embrace an active-first lifestyle (i.e., walking is the primary mode of transportation) that motivates the public to get outside. Chicago and New York City are examples of cities that have already done this, but it isn’t enough.
“Infrastructure measures that encourage active transport, walkable neighborhoods, as well as green spaces might be promising approaches to increase physical activity and resultant healthy life expectancy at the population level,” wrote the authors.
