People who habitually have a fast walking pace are more likely to live longer than their slow-walking peers, a study claims.
The study, conducted by researchers from the NationalInstitute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre inthe UK, used data from 474,919 people.
It showed that walking pace was linked to life expectancy inall individuals irrespective of weight.
Underweight individuals with a slow walking pace had thelowest life expectancy (an average of 64.8 years for men, 72.4 years forwomen).
The same pattern of results was found for waistcircumference measurements.
This is the first time research has associated fast walkingpace with a longer life expectancy regardless of a person’s body weight orobesity status.
“Our findings could help clarify the relativeimportance of physical fitness compared to body weight on life expectancy ofindividuals,” said Professor Tom Yates, a professor at the University ofLeicester in the UK.
“In other words, the findings suggest that perhapsphysical fitness is a better indicator of life expectancy than body mass index(BMI), and that encouraging the population to engage in brisk walking may addyears to their lives,” said Yates, lead author of the study published inthe journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Studies published so far have mainly shown the impact ofbody weight and physical fitness on mortality in terms of relative risk, saidFrancesco Zaccardi, clinical epidemiologist at the Leicester Diabetes Centre.The study showed that slow walkers were twice aslikely to have a heart-related death as fast walkers, even when other riskfactors such as smoking and body mass index were taken into account.