Life Expectancy Longer for People Who Engage in Leisure-time Physical Activity
Leisure-time
physical activity is associated with longer life expectancy, even at relatively
low levels of activity and regardless of body weight, according to researchers at
the National Cancer Institute, part of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH).
In order
to determine the number of years of life gained from leisure-time physical
activity in adulthood, researchers examined data on more than 650,000 adults,
mostly aged 40 and older, who took part in 1 of 6 population-based studies that
were designed to evaluate various aspects of cancer risk.
After
accounting for other factors that could affect life expectancy, the researchers
found that life expectancy was 3.4 years longer for people who reported they
got the recommend level of physical activity (2.5 hours at moderate
intensity/1.25 hours at vigorous intensity each week). People who reported
leisure-time physical activity at twice the recommended level gained 4.2 years
of life.
The
researchers even saw benefit at low levels of activity. For example, people who
said they got half of the recommended amount of physical activity still added
1.8 years to their life.
The researchers found that the association between physical activity and
life expectancy was similar between men and women, and blacks gained more years
of life expectancy than whites. The relationship between life expectancy and
physical activity was stronger among people with a history of cancer or heart
disease than among those with no history of cancer or heart disease.
The researchers also examined how life expectancy changed with the
combination of both activity and obesity. Obesity was associated with a shorter
life expectancy, but physical activity helped to mitigate some of the harm.
People who were obese and inactive had a life expectancy that was between 5 to 7
years shorter (depending on their level of obesity) than people who were normal
weight and moderately active.
The
study was published online November 6 in PLoS Medicine.