Higher Physical Activity Levels Can Increase Life Expectancy

FRIDAY, Nov. 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Higher physical activity (PA) levels can increase life expectancy, according to a study published online Nov. 14 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Lennert Veerman, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., from the Griffith University School of Medicine and Dentistry in Gold Coast, Australia, and colleagues estimated how much low PA reduces life expectancy by applying a predictive model based on device-measured PA risk estimates and a life-table model analysis among adults aged 40 years and older. In addition, the authors examined how much life expectancy could be improved by increasing PA levels.

The researchers found that Americans older than 40 years could live an extra 5.3 years if all individuals were as active as the top 25 percent of the population. Individuals in the lowest activity quartile had the greatest gain in lifetime per hour of walking, where an additional hour of walking could add 376.3 minutes of life expectancy.

“Higher PA levels provide a substantial increase in population life expectancy. Increased investment in PA promotion and creating PA promoting living environments can promote healthy longevity,” the authors write. “Infrastructure measures that encourage active transport, walkable neighborhoods as well and green spaces might be promising approaches to increase PA and resultant healthy life expectancy at the population level.”

Abstract/Full Text