Secret of longevity So we could easily become 90 years and older!

How does physical activity affect life expectancy??

Exercise and physical activity are healthy for the human body. Physicians now found that women and men greatly benefit from increased physical activity in their life expectancy. For women, one hour of physical activity per day is enough to greatly increase the likelihood of reaching the age of 90 years or older. In men, the same applies from a movement of 1.5 hours per day.

Researchers at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands found in their recent research that women who spent one hour a day doing physical activity were much more likely to live longer than 90 years. Even in men with 1.5 hours of exercise a day, a comparable effect was noted. The experts published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health".

Regular physical activities such as walking, hiking or cycling have a significant impact on life expectancy. (Image: Kzenon / fotolia.com)

Where did the data come from in the study??

The relationship between exercise and longer life has been extensively studied in the past. However, in many previous studies, either the results for men and women were combined (without distinguishing the sexes) or only men were examined, rather than women and men being evaluated at the same time, say the physicians. However, the current research looked at how women's and men's body size and daily physical activity can affect life expectancy. For this, the scientists used the data from a Dutch cohort study (NLCS), which in 1986 collected information from more than 120,000 men and women.

Which activities did the subjects perform??

Of the participants, 4,161 women and 3,646 men between the ages of 68 and 70 reported how much physical activity they perform on a daily basis, how much they weigh, how tall they are and what their weight was at the age of 20. Physical activities included walking with the dog, gardening, sports and cycling to work. The women and men were divided into different categories. People who exercise for less than 30 minutes a day, a group that was active for between 30 and 60 minutes, a group whose activity lasted between 60 and 90 minutes, and the last group of subjects who had more than 90 minutes of physical activity , All participants were then monitored medically until age 90 or until death. Of these subjects, 944 women and 433 men lived over 90 years.

An hour's physical activity is optimal for women

The physicians found that women who perform physical activity for between 30 and 60 minutes daily are 21 percent more likely to reach the age of 90 compared to women who are physically active for 30 minutes or less each day. The experts also said that one hour seems the optimal time for physical activity in women.

How did physical activity affect men??

When men exercise 90 minutes of physical activity daily, they are 39 percent more likely to reach the age of 90 compared to men who are physically active for less than half an hour a day. The study also concluded that every additional half hour of physical activity per day increases the likelihood by five percent that men turn 90.

There were restrictions on the investigation?

However, the physicians claim that the current study is only observational because the information was provided by the participants in the NLCS study and not by the scientists themselves. Other factors could also have played a role in the longevity of individuals, for example, whether they smoke or drink. However, the experts believe that the results of the study are quite reliable due to the large cohort of people in a similar age group. (As)