Walking reduces health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle. This conclusion was reached by scientists from the University of Sydney. This is reported by ScienceDaily.
Researchers analyzed data from over 72,000 adults from the UK Biobank (average age 61, 58% women). Participants wore accelerometers for a week: the devices recorded the number of steps and the time spent sitting or lying down. Scientists were interested in the relationship between lifestyle and cardiovascular health and the likelihood of premature death. The results showed that increasing the number of steps to 10,000 a day reduces the risk of death by 39 percent and the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases by 21 percent. Moreover, the positive effect was observed regardless of the time spent in a sitting position.
The authors emphasized that walking is not a panacea, but any movement matters. In their opinion, people with a sedentary lifestyle should strive to offset its consequences by increasing daily activity.
