15-Minute Walks Slash Heart Disease Risk by Two-Thirds for Inactive Brits

According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal last month, Britons who are physically inactive can dramatically improve their heart health by going on longer daily walks. The research, which involved nearly 34,000 people in the UK, found that those who accumulated most of their daily steps in walks of 15 minutes or more had about one-third the risk of heart disease compared to those who mostly walked for less than 5 minutes at a time.

The benefits were even more pronounced for the most sedentary participants, who got under 5,000 steps per day. Among this group, longer walks were strongly linked to lower risks of heart disease and mortality. In contrast, people who tended to walk in shorter bouts of less than 10 minutes faced higher rates of cardiovascular issues and death.

While health experts have long promoted a goal of 10,000 daily steps, the new research suggests that the length of walking sessions may be just as important as the total step count for inactive individuals. The findings could help inform exercise guidelines, particularly for those who struggle to stay active, by encouraging them to "incorporate longer, purposeful walking sessions into their daily routines to optimize health outcomes".