If You Do 'This' for 160 Minutes Daily from Your 40s... Your Lifespan Increases by 5 Years

Walking 160 Minutes Daily After 40 Increases Lifespan by 5 Years
Greater Lifespan Extension with Less Physical Activity
"Need for Walkable Neighborhoods and Green Spaces"

Photo unrelated to the article. Pixabay

A study has found that walking more than 160 minutes daily after the age of 40 can increase life expectancy by about five years.

On the 15th, Yonhap News cited the British Journal of Sports Medicine, reporting that "Professor Lennart Bierman’s team at Griffith University in Australia announced the results of a model study using physical activity tracking data of Americans aged 40 and over and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics." According to the report, increasing physical activity levels to the top 25% of the entire population after age 40 can extend life expectancy by more than five years, and if someone in the bottom 25% increases their activity to the top 25% level, life expectancy can increase by as much as 11 years.

The research team explained the background of the study, stating, "It is well known that low physical activity levels increase the risk of diseases such as heart disease and stroke, as well as the risk of premature death, but it is unclear how much life expectancy is shortened when physical activity levels are low in specific groups or countries." They created a predictive model estimating the impact of physical activity levels on life expectancy based on physical activity tracking data of people in their 40s from the 2003?2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics in 2017, and population data from the Census Bureau in 2019.

They divided the population aged 40 and over into four groups according to physical activity levels and predicted life expectancy for each group. Those who walked more than 160 minutes daily at a normal pace of 4.8 km/h were classified in the top 25% for physical activity. The analysis estimated that if all people in their 40s walked like this, life expectancy would increase from 78.6 years to 84 years, a gain of 5.4 years.

Furthermore, for those in the bottom 25% with the least physical activity, who walked about 50 minutes a day, increasing walking time to the top 25% level (160 minutes daily) could increase life expectancy by 10.9 years. The greatest life expectancy extension effect from increasing physical activity was observed in the group with the lowest activity. For people in the bottom 25% of physical activity, life expectancy increased by 376 minutes for every additional hour of walking per day.

The research team noted, "This study is observational and cannot establish causality, and there are various limitations," but added, "It suggests that increasing investment in promoting physical activity and creating environments that encourage physical activity have the potential to significantly increase life expectancy at both the population and individual levels." They further stated, "Transportation methods that encourage physical activity, walkable neighborhoods, and the creation of green spaces can be promising approaches to increase physical activity at the population level, thereby extending healthy life expectancy."