The researchers estimate thatby adopting the activity level of the most active people, individuals over 40 could gain, on average, 5.3 additional years of life.
A precise methodology for striking results
Unlike many researches based on self-administered questionnaires, this study relies on data collected via accelerometers, devices used to precisely measure the level of physical activity. This gives the results increased reliability.
The conclusions are striking: the most active people have a 73% reduced risk of mortality compared to sedentary individuals. Even the least active can benefit from significant improvements: each hour of daily walking could result in a gain of around 6 hours in life expectancy.
Professor Lennert Veerman, who led the study, says sedentary people have the most to gain.
“If the least active quarter of the population over 40 increased their activity level to reach that of the most active, this could represent a gain of 11 years in life expectancy,” he explains.
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