According to a new study, getting as active as the top 25% of the US population could extend your life by at least five years.
According to a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, getting as active as the top 25% of the US population could extend your life by at least five years.
“I was surprised to find that the loss of life years in the USA due to low levels of physical activity might rival the losses due to smoking and high blood pressure,” said senior study author Dr. Lennert Veerman, to CNN.
This is not the first study to analyze the impact of physical activity on life longevity. Veerman’s research was actually inspired by a study performed in 2019 which showed premature death risks could be lowered when individuals get more exercise.
“The 2019 study, along with others, had already shown that when measured with accelerometry, the relationship between physical activity and early death is about twice as strong when compared with levels gauged by surveys or questionnaires,” Veerman said.
“I wondered how that would translate to life expectancy, and how much extra life time a single hour of walking might bring.”
The authors in the recent study utilized physical activity data that was recorded using hip accelerometers, which are wearable activity-tracking devices. The individuals studied were 40 or older and they wore the devices for at least 10 hours on four or more days a week. These people were participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2003 and 2006.
The authors stated that this specific age group was important to study because activity-dependent mortality rates are stable until the age of 40, and after that they tend to vary. “The reason for using old activity data is for methodological consistency with the 2019 study,” the authors said to CNN.
The team then utilized the data to create what is known as a life table, which the authors described as a way of showing the probability of populations living to, or dying by, a certain age. Through this analysis and layout, they found that when one is as active as the least active quarter of the population, there can be a 5.8 year loss in life expectancy, regardless of gender.
On the opposite end, if all Americans over the age of 40 were as active as the top quarter of those studied, their life expectancy, on average, is about 84 years, with the overall life expectancy average being 78.
In the lower quarter of the data taken, the total activity levels equated to about 49 minutes of walking daily, while the top quarter was around 160 minutes. Dr. Andrew Freeman, the director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, who wasn’t involved in the study, stated that this data reinforces a healthy standard that everyone could benefit from.
“The findings suggest what we’ve already known, which is that physical activity is pretty critical to improve health outcomes and improve longevity.”
“The authors’ modeling method is strong but does have its limitations since it relies on existing data and provides estimates that are largely theoretical,” said Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk, associate executive director for population and public health sciences at the Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
“Physical inactivity is associated with the development of several diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and several cancers. Being physically active reduces your risk of developing these conditions and dying from them,” Katzmarzyk said.
The authors also acknowledged that the average person likely doesn’t have a daily schedule that allows them to get over two hours of exercise daily, so instead, they recommend incorporating any kind of movement that they can throughout their day.
Doing squats, taking a lap around your office, “when you’re running errands, park as far away from stores as possible. Getting coffee with a friend? Catch up during a walk in the park instead of sitting in the coffee shop. Standing desks or desk treadmills can be great to have at work,” Freeman said.
“Every movement counts, so don’t count yourself out if you don’t meet the guidelines,” Veerman said.
“Additionally, the authors’ points about enhancing the pedestrian infrastructure … are critical. We need to figure out how to do that here in the States, because our expenditures in health care are just completely unsustainable,” said Freeman.
“Reducing dependence on cars requires collective action and long-term planning, but everyone can advocate for this change, and some people are already positioned to help make it happen,” Veerman said.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
