Walking 15,000 steps a week can add three years to a person’s life.
A study has found that replacing a couch potato lifestyle with some moderate exercise could make a big difference to the overall health of the UK population.
Research conducted by insurance firm Vitality and the London School of Economics (LSE) mapped the exercise habits of more than a million people in Britain and South Africa over the course of a decade and concluded that even habitual activity can extend life expectancy.
LSE researcher Professor Joan Costa-Font said: “The findings of this study are a clear call to action for policy makers to promote prevention in public health and build on the power of healthy habits to improve individual and collective health outcomes.
“Successful habit-based interventions can lengthen life expectancy, entail considerable savings for public health services, improve productivity, and help address the significant long-term challenges posed by mental health, social isolation, and non-communicable diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes.”
