Walking for 10 minutes every day can add a year to a person's life

A study has found that adding a brisk 10-minute walk to the daily routine of inactive men and women aged 60 and older leads to a "noticeable" life expectancy increase.

Researchers at the University of Leicester came to the conclusion after taking data from more than 40,000 females and over 30,000 men with an average age of 63.1 from studies where physical activity had been measured.

Tom Yates, a professor of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health at the university, said: "In this large sample size we observed that for an inactive 60-year-old, adding the equivalent of a daily, 10-minute brisk walk was linked to an average of 0.9 extra years lived for women and 1.4 years for inactive men.

"Adding a daily 30-minute brisk walk was linked to an extra 1.4 years lived in women and 2.5 years in men."

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