Slow walkers more likely to develop heart disease (so says science)

If you regularly find yourself shuffling behind an individual who seems intent on moving at a glacial pace, then findings from a recent study may be of interest to you.

According to a study conducted by researchers at NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, there exists a correlation between the speed with which you walk and your chance of developing heart disease.

“Our study was interested in the links between whether someone said they walked at a slow, steady or brisk pace and whether that could predict their risk of dying from heart disease or cancer in the future," Professor Tom Yates explained.

Over the course of six years, researchers assessed more than 420,000 people, and discovered a connection between slow walkers and increased mortality, with slow walkers 1.8 to 2.4 times more likely to die of heart disease.

“Slow walkers were around twice as likely to have a heart-related death compared to brisk walkers," said Professor Yates of the six-year study which included both men and women.

"This finding was seen in both men and women and was not explained by related risk factors such as smoking, body mass index, diet or how much television the participants in the sample watched. This suggests habitual walking pace is an independent predictor of heart-related death."

Researchers established that those who walk at a quicker pace are more likely to be physically fitter which thereby protects the individual from obesity and high blood pressure – both of which are causes of heart disease.

"We also found that self-reported walking pace was strongly linked to an individual’s objectively measured exercise tolerance, further suggesting walking pace is a good measure of overall physical fitness," added Professor Yates.

"Therefore, self-reported walking pace could be used to identify individuals who have low physical fitness and high mortality risk that would benefit from targeted physical exercise interventions."

The findings have been published in August's edition of the European Heart Journal.