A 10-minute daily walk for inactive men and women aged over 60 can increase life expectancy by about a year or more, according to a study published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.
And the report found a 30-minute walk can increase life expectancy even more; by 1.4 years for women and 2.5 years for men.
The report said: “Higher physical activity volumes were associated with longer life expectancy, with a higher physical activity intensity profile further adding to a longer life.
“For inactive adults, even modest differences equivalent to a 10-min daily brisk walk were associated with a longer life expectancy.”
Increasing duration and intensity improves results
The findings also suggested that extra years of life can be gained by increasing the overall amount of physical activity done, for example walking for longer, or increasing the intensity of physical activity undertaken, such as converting a slow walk into a brisk walk.
However, the greatest gains were achieved by doing both.
The study was carried out by comparing findings from existing studies on the UK Biobank medical database and was conducted by researchers funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at the University of Leicester.
Data from 40,953 women (with an average age of 61.9 years) and 30,820 men (average age of 63.1) were included in this analysis, taken from studies where physical activity had been objectively measured by an accelerometer worn on participants’ wrists.
This was then analysed to provide life expectancy statistics.
Tom Yates, professor of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health at the University of Leicester said: “In this large sample size we observed that for an inactive 60-year-old, adding the equivalent of a daily 10-minute brisk walk was linked to an average of 0.9 extra years lived for women and 1.4 years for inactive men.
“Adding a daily 30-minute brisk walk was linked to an extra 1.4 years lived in women and 2.5 years in men.”
Dr Francesco Zaccardi, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and health data science at the NIHR Leicester BRC and co-lead author on the study said: “This study adds to the evidence that habitual daily physical activity is a powerful determinant of health and longevity.
“Our hope is that these findings will lead to public health messaging promoting the importance of small regular additions of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity in adults who are currently inactive.
“We recommended public health bodies undertake campaigns which focus on ten minutes of brisk walking a day.
“A small change really can make a significant difference.”