Walking, even very slowly, remains beneficial throughout life.
Beyond a certain age, seniors tend to walk less and less. However, walking, even at a slow pace or for a short duration, helps reduce cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and increases longevity. Korean researchers from Sanggye Paik University (Seoul) wanted to determine the ideal walking duration for people over 85, commonly called in France “the fourth age”.
For their study presented at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, these researchers examined health data from more than 7,000 people aged 85 and over (68% women and 37% men, whose age average was 87 years) referenced in the records of the Korean National Health Insurance Service. All participants had to inform by questionnaire the amount of walking they did per week and the intensity (slow walking, moderate walking, etc.). After collecting the data, the researchers classified the participants into 5 groups: “sedentary” group, “less than 1 hour of slow walking per week”, “1 to 2 hours of slow walking” group, “2 to 3 hours of slow walking” and group “more than 3 hours of slow walking”.
The study showed that people who walked at least 1 hour per week (i.e. 40% of participants) had a 40% lower risk of dying (from all causes) and a 39% lower risk of having cardiovascular disease. compared to inactive people. By walking an hour a week, these people can even earn “up to 10 years of life“, estimate the researchers in their investigation. Walking 1 hour per week amounts to walking an average of 9 minutes per day.
Among people in their 80s, maintaining a sufficient level of physical activity can be very difficult to achieve. “Our study indicates that walking even one hour per week is beneficial for people aged 85 and older compared to total inactivity. The take home message is to keep walking through life“, summarizes Dr Moo-Nyun Jin, lead author of the study.