Daily Extra 10-min of Walks

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The US News has an yet another interesting article on the benefits of daily walks. Now a days, I seem to jump into any articles that relates to daily activities or healthy living.

Referring to a recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC), the USNews writes that more than 60% of Americans don’t do regular recommended daily activities as a result over 110 thousands Americans are dying.

Our projections are based on an additional 10 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity,. If the walk is brisk, it counts.

– Pedro Saint-Maurice, lead researcher, the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch at the U.S. National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md (source: USNews)

Key findings of the study:

  • “Adding 10 minutes of exercise lowered participants’ risk of death over the period by 7%; 20 extra minutes reduced risk by 13%; and an extra half-hour of moderate to vigorous activity slashed the risk of death by 17%.
  • “In other words, an extra 20 minutes of exercise could prevent nearly 210,000 deaths a year, and 30 more minutes could head off more than 270,000 deaths.”

Dr. David Katz — president of the True Health Initiative, a nonprofit that promotes healthy living as the best way to prevent disease — who reported reviewed the study findings, told USNews:

  • “Even a portion of such benefit would be of great public health importance.
  • “Abundant evidence from diverse sources indicates that all physical activity contributes to the same, common benefit.
  • “This is another reminder of the profound potential to leverage lifestyle practices as the very best of medicine to prevent disease, promote health, add years to lives, and add life to years.
  • “Making this common knowledge and empowering everyone to act on that knowledge should be a top public health and cultural priority.

The U.S. Government’s Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends:

  • At least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity; 75 minutes of vigorous aerobics; or a combination of both, spread throughout the week.
  • Less time sitting. (Even light-intensity activity can offset some of the risks of being sedentary.)
  • Being active at least 300 minutes (5 hours) per week.
  • Increasing the amount and intensity of activity gradually over time.

Source: USNews