Study reveals: being more active can increase life expectancy by 5 years

In a busy world, the task of incorporating more movement into your daily life often falls by the wayside.

But there’s a reason to rethink your priorities — becoming as active as the most active 25% of the U.S. population could extend your life by at least five years, according to a new study published on Thursday (14) in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

“I was surprised to discover that the loss of years of life in the U.S. due to low levels of physical activity can rival those lost due to smoking and high blood pressure,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Lennert Veerman, professor of health public meeting at the Griffith University School of Medicine and Dentistry in Australia, via email.

Many studies have examined the connections between physical activity and longevity. In fact, Veerman’s research was inspired by a 2019 study which found that the risk of premature death decreased the more physical activity participants did, he said. Activity levels in that study were measured with accelerometers — wearable activity monitoring devices.

The 2019 study, along with others, had previously shown that when measured with accelerometry, the relationship between physical activity and early death is about twice as strong compared to levels measured by surveys or questionnaires, Veerman said.

“I wondered how this would translate into life expectancy and how much extra life a single hour of walking could bring,” Veerman added.

To find out, the authors of the latest study used physical activity data captured by hip accelerometers worn — for at least 10 hours on four or more days — by adults ages 40 and older when they participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2003 to 2006.

The findings are based on this age group because activity-dependent mortality rates are stable until age 40; after that, 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 of showing the probabilities of populations living to, or dying to, a certain age. This life table was based on 2017 National Center for Health Statistics mortality data, which the authors assumed was related to 2003-2006 activity levels.

Based on this information, the authors projected how many people in the 2019 U.S. population would survive the next few years depending on activity levels, and how much extra lifespan they could gain by increasing those levels.

They found that being as active as the least active quartile of the population would lead to a 5.8-year loss in life expectancy for men and women, reducing life expectancy at birth from about 78 to about 73 years. And if all Americans over age 40 were as active as the top quartile, life expectancy would be 83.7 years, an increase of 5.3 years.

Total activity levels in the lowest quartile were equivalent to walking for 49 minutes at approximately 3 miles per hour daily. Total activity levels in the second, third, and fourth highest quartiles were equivalent to 78, 105, and 160 minutes, respectively.

The team also investigated what the potential benefits might be at an individual, rather than population, level — finding that if those who are least active got 111 more minutes of activity per day, they could extend their lifespan by up to 11 years.

The findings “suggest something we already knew, which is that physical activity is quite critical for improving health outcomes (and) improving longevity,” said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, which was not involved in the study. (Freeman is also a medical advisor for WeWard, an activity tracking app that encourages users to move by letting them accumulate points that can be redeemed for prizes or charitable donations. He has not received any financial compensation.)

Projecting the benefits of more movement

The authors’ modeling method is strong, but it has its limitations, as it relies on existing data and provides estimates that are largely theoretical, said Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk, associate executive director of population sciences and public health at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. from Louisiana State University, via email. Katzmarzyk was not involved in the study.

The authors acknowledged that there is evidence that adherence to physical activity guidelines in the United States has improved since the mid-2000s, meaning their life expectancy projections may be overestimated. The activity levels of participants in the 2003-2006 study were also measured at just one point in time, which cannot account for changes throughout their lives.

But researchers have already suggested exactly how movement could be linked to longevity.

“Physical inactivity is associated with the development of several diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and several types of cancer,” said Katzmarzyk. “Being physically active reduces your risk of developing these conditions and dying from them.”

Taking opportunities to move

If the idea of ​​becoming more active seems daunting, know that the activity levels of participants in the 2003-2006 study weren’t all from exercise. They wore trackers on their hips for at least 10 waking hours over several days, meaning the devices captured movements needed for everyday life as well.

Find more moments to move during the day. While your food is heating up, do some squats or take a walk around your work building instead of scrolling social media. When shopping, park as far away from stores as possible. Going to have coffee with a friend? Catch up during a walk in the park instead of sitting at the coffee shop. Standing desks or desk mats can be great to have at work, Freeman said.

Adults need at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week, according to the World Health Organization. Every move counts, Veerman said, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t meet the guidelines.

The study found an effect of diminishing returns, so exercising for 23 hours a day doesn’t mean you’ll live forever, Freeman said. There is such a thing as excessive activity.

Furthermore, “the authors’ points about improving pedestrian infrastructure…are critical,” said Freeman, who added that patients returning from trips to Europe often tell him they walked 10,000 or 20,000 steps daily.

“We need to figure out how to do this here in the United States,” he said, “because our health care spending is completely unsustainable.”

Reducing car dependence requires collective action and long-term planning, but everyone can advocate for this change, and some people are already positioned to help make it a reality, Veerman said.

This content was originally published in Study reveals: being more active can increase life expectancy by 5 years on the CNN Brasil website.

Source: CNN Brasil