Older adults can lower death risk by 15 minutes of exercise
A new study has shown that older adults need only walk briskly for 15 minutes a day to cut their risk of dying early.
Currently NHS recommends two and a half hours of moderate exercise a week for pensioners; the latest study suggests that doing far less exercise can still bring substantial health benefits.
The study involving 123,000 people over a 12 year period found that just 15 minutes of exercise a day lowered the risk of death by 22 per cent.
Even adults who met recommended guidelines only lowered their change of dying early by 35 per cent.
Other activities which count towards the 15 minute a day goal include weeding the garden, tennis or cycling.
Older people are advised to take part in activities which improve muscle strength, balance and coordination on two days a week and reduce extended sitting time.
‘Age is not an excuse to do no exercise,’ said Dr David Hupin, physician in the Department of Clinical and Exercise Physiology, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, France.
‘It is well established that regular physical activity has a better overall effect on health than any medical treatment.’
‘But less than half of older adults achieve the recommended minimum of 150 minutes moderate intensity or 75 minutes vigorous intensity exercise each week.’
‘Fifteen minutes a day could be a reasonable target for older adults. Small increases in physical activity may enable some older adults to incorporate more moderate activity and get closer to the recommended 150 minutes per week.’
‘The more physical activity older adults do, the greater the health benefit,’ added Dr Hupin. ‘The biggest jump in benefit was achieved at the low level of exercise, with the medium and high levels bringing smaller increments of benefit.’
‘We found that the low level of activity, which is half the recommended amount, was associated with a reduced risk of death in older adults compared with those who were inactive,’ said Dr. Hupin.
