Good News for Couch Potatoes—Just Walk

Concerned because you do not get as much exercise as you think you should? Stop worrying. It turns out that the movement and activity associated with daily living may be enough. Elin Ekblom-Bak, Ph.D., from the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, and colleagues, conducted a health screening study in which they followed 4, 232 men and women, age 60, for an average of 12.5 years. During that time they assessed their subjects’ cardiovascular events and mortality.

The researchers found that, regardless of regular exercise, non-exercise physical activity (NEPA) was associated with more preferable waist circumference, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides in both sexes, and with lower insulin, glucose, and fibrinogen levels in men, when compared to those with low NEPA.

HealthDay News, which reported the study, noted that for both regularly exercising and non-exercising individuals, metabolic syndrome occurred significantly less frequently in those with higher NEPA levels. A high NEPA level correlated with a significantly lower risk of a first cardiovascular disease event and with significantly lower all-cause mortality. The authors conclude “for future health, promoting everyday NEPA might be as important as recommending regular exercise for older adults.” The researchers published their study online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.