A 20-Minute Walk Each Day May Save Your Life

If you are inactive, simply adding a brisk 20-minute walkeach day could reduce your risk
of death by as much as 30%. Lack of exercise increases premature death risk twice as
much as being obese, according to a large study.
"This is a simple message: just a small amount of physical activity each day could have
substantial health benefits for people who are physically inactive," said lead researcher
Ulf Ekelund of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University
of Cambridge, in a press release.
This finding comes from a very large study that followed a third of a million men and
women for over 12 years. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and
Nutrition (EPIC) Study findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition in March, 2015. Over the course of the study, 21,438 participants died.
Their physical activity level, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were
compared. The data was factored for gender, age, education, smoking, and alcohol
intake.
What is Inactivity?
The study labeled people as inactive if they reported a sedentary job and no
recreational physical activity. Just under a quarter of the participants were inactive by
those criteria. If you have a desk job and you get no more activity at home, you are at
risk.
More: Bad health effects of sitting too much
20 Minutes of Brisk Walking a Day Keeps the Grim Reaper Away
Just 20 minutes per day of brisk walking, burning 90 to 110 calories, moves you from the
"inactive" category to the "moderately inactive" category.
The researchers found that this reduced the risk of premature death by 16-30% While
the biggest effect was seen in those of normal body weight, people who were obese
also had a significant decrease in risk.

Decreasing Inactivity Could Save Twice as Many Lives as Reducing Obesity

Professor Nick Wareham, Director of the Medical Research Council Unit, adds: Helping
people to lose weight can be a real challenge, and whilst we should continue to aim at
reducing population levels of obesity, public health interventions that encourage people
to make small but achievable changes in physical activity can have significant health
benefits and may be easier to achieve and maintain.
These study findings show that you the simplest change in lifestyle can be a big step
towards a healthier, longer life. The more we can do to encourage even short bouts of
walking, cycling or other activity may save many lives.
Health authorities worldwide recommend 30 minutes of moderately-intense physical
activityat least five days per week, such as brisk walking. The bouts of exercise should
be 10 minutes or more in length. If averaged over a week, this matches the amount of
exercise the study found to be associated with a decreased risk of premature death.
More: How Much Exercise Do You Need?
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