Whether light, moderate or intense, any level of regular exercise lowers early mortality risk in middle-aged and older adults, new research from the University of Oslo has found. 

Approximately five times as many deaths occurred among study participants who were inactive when compared with those in the most active group, reported Ulf Ekelund, Ph.D., and colleagues. The risk of dying fell as activity increased and then plateaued when participants reached the average activity level for American men. In contrast, spending 9.5 hours or more each day sedentary (such as sitting) was associated with a statistically significant increase in risk. Data was obtained from more than 36,000 participants fitted with accelerometers that measured the amount and intensity of activity during awake time. 

The findings support the view that any physical activity, such as walking, is beneficial and likely achievable for most older adults, explained Ekelund. The message may be to “sit less and move more and more often,” he wrote.

The results contradict current standard exercise prescriptions of 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of intense exercise per week. Those recommendations are based on studies using self-reported data, which can be unreliable, the researchers claimed.

“Activity prescribing is cheaper than many pharmaceutical interventions for cardiovascular disease and more effective at improving quality adjusted life years,” wrote Jochen Klenk, Ph.D., in an accompanying editorial.

The study was published in the BMJ.