Running isn't just good
for a person's day-to-day health and
well-being, it may ward off an early death, new research has shown.
Being a
runner -- even an casual one -- was associated with a 27% lower risk of
mortality, according to a meta-analysis published in the British
Journal of Sports Medicine.
The
review, which analyzed 14 studies that included 232,149 participants, found
that running also was associated with a 30% lower risk of cardiovascular death
and a 23% lower risk of cancer death.
"Even
relatively small doses of running can improve your health," said Zeljko
Pedisic, lead author of the study and associate professor at Victoria
University in Australia. "If you are physically inactive and don’t have
much time on your hands for exercise, running might just be the right activity
for you."
The
researchers found that running as little as once a week, or 50 minutes per
week, significantly reduced runners' risk of death. Since there wasn't data
from the original studies on individuals who ran less frequently than that,
researchers were unable to determine if there would have been similar mortality
gains for more sporadic runners.
Higher
levels of running, on the other hand, weren't necessarily associated with
greater mortality benefits, the researchers wrote.
Notably,
the frequently and duration of running researchers found to be associated with
improved mortality is lower than the 150 minutes of weekly exercise that the Department of
Health and Human Services currently recommends for Americans.
Pedisic
said he hoped that the study would both encourage those who aren't physically
active to become so, while motivating regular runners to keep training.
Since
safe and accessible public spaces could prompt the public to run or exercise
more frequently, Pedisic added that "our findings can also be used to
encourage policymakers to improve public infrastructure for running."
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