Pick up the pace! Slow walkers are FOUR times more likely to die from Covid-19, the study warns
- The researchers used data from the UK Biobank and compared the pace of walking with Covid risk
- They found that slow walkers with normal weight had a higher risk of death
- Obese fast walkers had less risk of Covid than normal weight slow walkers
- The team says this is because they have a better cardiovascular system
A new study has warned that people who walk slowly are four times more likely to die of coronavirus and are twice as likely to get severe Covid-19.
Researchers at the University of Leicester studied 412,596 middle-aged UK Biobank participants and the relative relationship between body mass, gait rate and Covid-19.
The team found that people who walk slowly but with a normal weight are 2.5 times more likely to develop severe Covid-19 than fast walkers of normal weight.
They also found that slow walkers were 3.75 times more likely to die due to the virus that shut down most of the world and caused millions of deaths.
For the study, a slow walker was defined as someone who moved at three miles per hour, while a fast walker moved at more than four miles per hour.
Although the reason for the findings is still unclear, researchers suggest that fast walkers may have a healthier cardiovascular system, regardless of their weight.
A new study has warned that people who walk slowly are four times more likely to die of coronavirus and are twice as likely to get severe Covid-19. Stock image
All data came from the UK Biobank, a comprehensive, long-term study of genetic predisposition and environmental exposure that began in 2006.
Tom Yates, lead researcher on the study and professor of physical activity, sedentary behavior and health at the University of Leicester, said it has already been established that obesity and fragility are “key risk factors” for Covid-19 results.
“This is the first study to show that slow walkers have a much higher risk of getting serious results from Covid-19, regardless of their weight,” he said.
“With the pandemic continuing to put unprecedented pressure on health services and communities, it is crucial to identify people at greatest risk and take preventative measures to protect them.”
According to research, slow walkers with normal weight are more likely to suffer serious illness and death than obese fast walkers.
In addition, the risk was uniformly high in normal-weight slow walkers and obese slow walkers, according to the study team.
Professor Yates added that it has been shown that fast walkers tend to have good cardiovascular and cardiac health, which makes them more resilient.
These external stressors include viral infection, but this hypothesis has not yet been established for infectious diseases.
“Although large routine database studies have reported the association of obesity and fragility with Covid-19 results, routine clinical databases currently have no data on physical function measures or of fitness, ”Yates said.
“In my opinion, public health surveillance studies and ongoing research should consider incorporating simple measures of physical fitness, such as self-reported walking pace, in addition to BMI, as possible predictors of Covid-19 “risk
Researchers at the University of Leicester studied 412,596 middle-aged UK Biobank participants and the relative relationship between body mass, gait rate and Covid-19. Stock image
Doing so could “ultimately allow for better life-saving prevention methods.”
The researchers noted a number of limitations to their study, saying that while it has been shown that self-reported gait is associated with cardiorespiratory form within the UK Biobank, it is subject to possible information biases.
They say that, given this and observational design, no definitive causal conclusions can be drawn from their results.
The findings have been published in the International Journal of Obesity.