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In a busy world, the task of getting more exercise into your daily life can often get put on the back burner.
But there’s a reason to reconsider your priorities: Becoming as active as the top 25% of the U.S. population could extend your life by at least five years, according to a new study published Thursday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
“I was surprised to find that the loss of years of life in the US due to low levels of physical activity could rival the losses due to smoking and high blood pressure,” said senior study author Dr. Lennert Veerman, professor of public health in the United States. School of Medicine and Dentistry at Griffith University in Australia, via email.
Many studies have examined the links between physical activity and longevity. In fact, Veerman’s research was inspired by a 2019 study that found the risk of premature death decreased as participants increased physical activity, he said. Activity levels in that study were measured with accelerometers – wearable activity tracking devices.
The 2019 study, along with others, had already shown that, measured by accelerometry, the relationship between physical activity and early death is about twice as strong compared to the levels measured by surveys or questionnaires, Veerman said.
“I wondered how that would translate into life expectancy, and how much extra life time an hour of walking could provide,” Veerman added.
To find out, the authors of the latest study used physical activity data collected by hip accelerometers worn – for at least ten hours on four or more days – by adults who were 40 years or older when they participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003 to 2006.
The findings are based on this age group because activity-related mortality rates are stable until age 40; then they vary. And the reason for using old activity data is methodological consistency with the 2019 study, the authors said.
The team then constructed a life table – a way to represent the probability of populations reaching a certain age or dying. This life table was based on 2017 National Center for Health Statistics mortality data, which the authors assumed were related to 2003-2006 activity levels.
Based on this information, the authors projected how many people from the 2019 U.S. population would survive in the coming years, depending on activity levels, and how much additional life they could gain by increasing it.
They found that being as active as the least active quartile of the population would lead to a loss of 5.8 years in life expectancy for men and women, reducing life expectancy at birth from about 78 years to about 73 years. And if all Americans were over the age of 40. If people were as active as the top quartile, life expectancy would be 83.7 years, which is an increase of 5.3 years. The total activity level in the lowest quartile corresponded to 49 minutes of walking at a speed of approximately 4.8 kilometers per hour per day. The total activity levels in the second, third and fourth highest quartiles were equal to 78, 105 and 160 minutes, respectively.
The team also explored what the potential benefits could be at an individual level, rather than at a population level. They found that if those who are least active were given an additional 111 minutes of activity per day, they could extend their lives by up to 11 years.
The findings “kind of suggest what we already know, which is that physical activity is pretty critical to improving health outcomes (and) improving longevity,” said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver . , who was not involved in the study. (Freeman is also a medical advisor for WeWard, an activity tracking app that also encourages users to move by letting them collect points that they can redeem for prizes or charity donations. He has not received any financial compensation.)
The authors’ modeling method is strong but also has its limitations because it relies on existing data and produces estimates that are largely theoretical, said Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk, associate executive director for population and public health sciences at Pennington Biomedical Research Center Louisiana State University. , via email. Katzmarzyk was not involved in the investigation.
The authors acknowledged that there is some evidence that adherence to physical activity guidelines has improved in the United States since the mid-2000s, meaning their projections of life expectancy could be overestimated. The activity levels of the 2003-2006 study participants were also measured at only one time point, which cannot account for changes over their lifetime.
But researchers have already suggested exactly how exercise might be linked to longevity.
“Physical inactivity has been linked to the development of several diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and several forms of cancer,” Katzmarzyk said. “Being physically active reduces the risk of developing and dying from these conditions.”
If the idea of becoming more active seems daunting, know that the activity levels of the participants in the 2003-2006 study did not stem solely from exercise. They wore trackers on their hips for at least ten waking hours over several days, meaning the devices also recorded movements necessary for daily life.
Find more moments to exercise during the day. While your food is heating up, do some squats or take a lap around your work building instead of scrolling through social media. When shopping, park as far away from shops as possible. Getting coffee with a friend? Catch up on 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.
MORE: Exercise Quiz: Find the Best Workouts for You
According to the World Health Organization, adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week. Every movement counts, Veerman said, so don’t count yourself out if you don’t meet the guidelines.
The study found a diminishing returns effect, so exercising 23 hours a day doesn’t mean you’ll live forever, Freeman said. There is such a thing as too much activity.
Furthermore, “the authors’ points about improving pedestrian infrastructure… are critical,” says Freeman, who adds that patients returning from trips to Europe often tell him they walk 10,000 or 20,000 steps every day.
“We have to figure out how to do that here in the United States,” he said, “because our health care spending is just completely unsustainable.”
Reducing dependence on cars requires collective action and long-term planning, but everyone can advocate for this change, and some people are already in a position to help make it happen, Veerman said.