According to a new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2024/10/07/bjsports-2024-108125?rss=1,higher levels of physical activity result in an increase in life expectancy. Based upon a predictive model of physical activity risk measurements, it was predicted that, "If all individuals were as active as the top 25% of the population, Americans over the age of 40 could live an extra 5.3 years (95% uncertainty interval 3.7 to 6.8 years) on average. The greatest gain in lifetime per hour of walking was seen for individuals in the lowest activity quartile where an additional hour's walk could add 376.3 min (~6.3 hours) of life expectancy (95% uncertainty interval 321.5 to 428.5 min)." Simplified, this means that if one got as active as the top 25 percent of the population, then one's life expectancy would increase by five years.
The paper, as I read it does not detail how the ordinary person could actually do this, as the top 25 percent of the population are quite active, ranging from sportspersons to manual labourers. Still, common sense suggests that lesser but still worthwhile increases in life expectancy could come from lesser efforts which may be more achievable.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/15/health/physical-activity-extend-life-expectancy-wellness/index.html
"In a busy world, the task of getting more movement into your daily life can often get put on the back burner.
But there's a reason to rethink your priorities — getting as active as the top 25% of the US population could extend your life by at least five years, according to a new study published Thursday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
"I was surprised to find that the loss of life years in the USA due to low levels of physical activity might rival the losses due to smoking and high blood pressure," said senior study author Dr. Lennert Veerman, professor of public health in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at Griffith University in Australia, via email.
Many studies have examined the connections between physical activity and longevity. In fact, Veerman's research was inspired by a 2019 study that found the risk of premature death lowered the more physical activity participants did, he said. The activity levels in that study were measured with accelerometers — wearable activity-tracking devices.
The 2019 study, along with others, had already shown that when measured with accelerometry, the relationship between physical activity and early death is about twice as strong when compared with levels gauged by surveys or questionnaires, Veerman said.
"I wondered how that would translate to life expectancy, and how much extra life time a single hour of walking might bring," Veerman added.
To find out, the authors of the latest study used physical activity data captured by hip accelerometers worn — for at least 10 hours on four or more days — by adults who were age 40 or older when participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003 to 2006.
The findings are based on this age group because activity-dependent mortality rates are stable up to age 40; after that, they vary. And the reason for using old activity data is for methodological consistency with the 2019 study, the authors said."