A longer, healthier life could be as little as a ten-minute walk away, according to the findings of a new study conducted by researchers funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at the University of Leicester.
The findings of the study, published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, suggest that adding the equivalent of a ten-minute brisk walk to the daily routine for inactive men and women aged 60 and above was associated with a noticeable increase in life expectancy.
The study was carried out by comparing findings from existing studies on the UK Biobank medical database. 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.