Older Adults Advised to Walk More Briskly

 

The amount of activity people engage in starts to tail off after the age of 40. They are on the cusp of developing bad habits that can lead to deadly disease.

This comes amid concerns that high levels of inactivity may be harming the health of older adults.

Doctors have been urging their patients for years to sit less and walk more.

“People think they need to go to the gym,” Dr. Sushma Koneru, a cardiologist at the Orlando Health Heart Institute in Florida, said.

“In fact, walking is as good as running for cardiovascular health. As long as you have comfortable shoes, it will be fine.”

Dr. Lola Abudu, director of health and well-being at Public Health England West Midlands, said, “Physical activity is a vital part of remaining healthy, and inactivity among adults contributes to 1 in 6 deaths in the U.K., the same as smoking.”

“We know that taking at least one 10-minute brisk walk a day can reduce the risk of early death by 15 percent, while a good level of activity each week can provide a multitude of health benefits,” she said.

Then, what is brisk walking?

“Taking 100 steps per minute is brisk walking, or 3 miles per hour,” she said. “You should feel like you’re exercising. You should feel warm and breathe a little faster.”

She said the ideal is 30 minutes of brisk walking five days a week, and it is not hard to get started.

“If you start walking now, you can still reduce your blood pressure, prevent diabetes, and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke,” she said.

Most people can work some walking time into their daily lives, Koneru said.

She suggested parking farther away from work or taking time during a lunch hour.

Meanwhile, a study published in June by BMC Public Health found that owning a dog appeared to increase activity levels in older adults - due to walking?