A brisk 20-minute walk a day may be enough to reduce an individual’s risk of early death by up to 30 percent, according to a new report published this week.
In a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Wednesday, researchers claim that at least twice as many deaths may be attributable to a lack of physical activity when compared with the number of deaths linked to obesity.
According to their research, which was based on data from 334,161 European men and women, a 20-minute daily walk or a comparable exercise, in which at least 90 to 110 calories are burned, will reduce the risk of premature death by between 16 and 30 percent.
“This is a simple message: just a small amount of physical activity each day could have substantial health benefits for people who are physically inactive,” said Ulf Ekelund from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge.
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