[MOVE TO LIVE LONGER] More activity after age 40, more years of life
If every person in the United States over the age of 40 was as physically active as the top 25% of the population, they could expect to live an extra five years, on average, suggest the findings of a recent modelling study. And if the least physically active matched the level of the most physically active, they could live almost 11 years longer, the estimates indicate.
It’s well known that low physical activity levels are associated with a higher risk of diseases and premature death, but it’s not clear to what extent low physical activity levels shorten lifespan in specific groups of people or countries, such as the United States.
To find out, the researchers created a predictive model to estimate the impact of different levels of increased physical activity on life expectancy. They based their model on physical activity risk estimates derived from activity tracker data for people ages at least 40, plus population and death data.
The total physical activity of the most active 25% of Americans over the age of 40 was equivalent to 160 minutes of normal paced walking at 4.8 km/(3 miles)/hour every day. Based on this, the researchers estimated that if all people over the age of 40 in the US matched this level of physical activity every day, their average lifespan would increase by just over five years, boosting life expectancy at birth to nearly 84 years from 78.6 years.
If the least physically active 25% of the population matched the levels of the most physically active 25%, they would need to clock up an extra 111 minutes of walking at 4.8 km/hour every day (or equivalent effort). But this could increase their life expectancy by nearly 11 years, the estimates suggest.
“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,” the researchers suggest.
To read the abstract of the study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, click here
Do you have news to share?
The ICAA welcomes your news submissions. Please send your press releases to colinmilner@icaa.cc-the ICAA's email for submissions-and staff will consider your news for possible publication. Newsworthy topics include such things as center/community openings; initiative or campaign launches; announcements of awards, promotions or grants; and other topics of interest to active-aging professionals.
Share
