By Mia De Graaf Health Editor For Dailymail.com
Published: 20:42 BST, 16 May 2019 | Updated: 20:42 BST, 16 May 2019
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Fast walkers may live longer than dawdlers - regardless of their weight, a new study suggests.
Researchers at Leicester University analyzed data on 474,919 people with an average age of 52 in the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2016.
They found women who walked briskly had a life expectancy of 86.7 to 87.8 years old, and men who kept up the pace had a life expectancy of 85.2 to 86.8.
Slow walkers had much bleaker prospects: women had a life expectancy of 72.4, and men of 64.8 years old, if they were more leisurely in their movements.
According to the paper, published last week in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, that ratio held true even if the fast walkers were severely or morbidly overweight.
It does not mean fast walkers will live longer - the report only proves a correlation, not a cause-and-effect - but experts say it suggests walking speed could be a crude way for doctors to judge their patients' general health alongside other tests.
