Brisk walking is as good as running when it comes to lowering the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, researchers said last night.
Experts said the findings show that any "brisk" activity can help prevent ill health.
The findings come from an analysis of 33,060 runners in the National Runners’ Health Study and 15,045 walkers in the National Walkers’ Health Study in the USA.
Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in Berkeley, California, USA, found that the same energy used for moderate intensity walking and vigorous running led to similar reductions in risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes over the study’s six years.
The risk was also thought to be lowered for heart disease and stroke.
Writing in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, Dr Paul Williams, lead author, said walking and running were ideal to test health benefits because they involve the same muscle groups and the same activities performed at different intensities.
In this study, researchers assessed walking and running by distance covered and not by time spent exercising.
“The more the runners ran and the walkers walked, the better off they were in health benefits. If the amount of energy expended was the same between the two groups, then the health benefits were comparable,” Dr Williams explained.
Comparing energy expenditure to self-reported, medically diagnosed incident hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes and coronary heart disease, researchers found that running significantly reduced risk for first-time hypertension by 4.2% and walking reduced risk by 7.2%.
Running reduced first-time high cholesterol by 4.3% and walking by 7%, first time diabetes by 12.1% compared to 12.3% walking, and heart disease by 4.5% compared to 9.3% walking.
“Walking may be a more sustainable activity for some people when compared to running, however, those who choose running end up exercising twice as much as those that choose walking. This is probably because they can do twice as much in an hour,” said Dr Williams.
“People are always looking for an excuse not to exercise, but now they have a straightforward choice to run or to walk and invest in their future health.”
Doireann Maddock, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “These scientists have shown us that any brisk physical activity, not just those long, exhausting runs, can be great news for your heart health.
“Whether it’s walking, jogging or running, staying active will help control your weight, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and improve your mental health. In other words, you’ll look and feel great and reduce your risk of a heart attack and stroke, too.”
Williams P et al. Walking Versus Running for Hypertension, Cholesterol, and Diabetes Mellitus Risk Reduction. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. April 2013. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.112.300878
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