A 15-Minute Walk Reduces Risk of Early Death, Study Says

A 15-minute exercise each day could add years to your life, a study revealed.

According to doctors, a short burst of activity could lower the risk of early deaths by 22%. The short amount of time to spend exercise is especially reasonable for older adults.

Exercise is known to combat brain aging and memory loss, as well as reduce the risk of heart diseases. However, older people are spending less time on exercise.

"It is well established that regular physical activity has a better overall effect on health than any medical treatment," Dr. David Hupin of the University Hospital of Saint-Etienne and author of the study, said in a statement published on The Daily Mail.

"But less than half of older adults achieve the recommended minimum of 150 minutes moderate intensity or 75 minutes vigorous intensity exercise each week," he added.

The researchers wanted to find out whether lower levels of exercise could still be beneficial and reduce mortality rates among older adults.

In the study, which was presented at the EuroPRevent, French researchers studied two groups of respondents. First is a group of 1,011 French people aged 65 in 2001 who were followed up over a period of 12 years.

The second group is made up of 122,417 people from different countries aged 60 who were followed up over 10 years.

Researchers measured the subjects' physical activity in Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) minutes each week, which is the amount of energy or calories consumed for every minute of physical activity.

The researchers found that the risk of death was lower for people who exercised more. Even people with low levels of physical activity, such as half of the recommended amount, still had 22 percent lower risk of death compared to people who did not do any exercise at all.

This low-level physical activity is equivalent to a 15-minute brisk walk every day, the researchers said.

"Small increases in physical activity may enable some older adults to incorporate more moderate activity and thus get closer to the current recommendations," the researchers concluded. "If more may be better, 'Even a little is already good'."