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Higher walking speeds appear to prevent diabetes. It turns out that walking at a pace of four kilometers per hour is associated with a significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
A new study involving experts from Oslo New University College analyzed the relationship between walking speed and the risk of type 2 diabetes. The results can be read in the “British Journal of Sports Medicine”.
Walking protected against diabetes
It was already known from previous studies that regular walks are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. According to the researchers, however, it has so far remained unclear what walking speed is optimal in order to protect yourself against diabetes as effectively as possible.
When researching potentially relevant long-term studies, the team identified a total of ten studies that were incorporated into the current research work. These had a total of 508,121 adult participants, were all published between 1999 and 2022 and covered observation periods of three to eleven years.
Higher walking speeds protect against diabetes
The pooled data analysis of the results showed that there is a general association between an average walking speed of three to five kilometers per hour and a 15 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes. It didn’t matter how long the participants walked, the experts add.
It was also shown that the risk of type 2 diabetes was reduced the higher the normal walking speed was over four kilometers per hour, the researchers report. Any increase in walking speed of one kilometer per hour (km/h) was associated with a nine percent reduction in the risk of diabetes.
Classify your walking pace based on steps per minute
The results show that any increase in walking speed above the minimum threshold of four km/h is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, with the minimum threshold corresponding to around 87 steps per minute in men and 100 steps per minute in women, explain The experts.
“The present meta-analysis of cohort studies suggests that relatively brisk and brisk/steady walking, regardless of total volume of physical activity or time spent walking per day, is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes could be linked to adults,” the team concluded in a press release.
Limitations of the study
According to the researchers, the extent to which fast walking actually reduces the risk of diabetes has not yet been conclusively clarified.
Walking speed is an important indicator of overall health, and higher walking speed is associated with better cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength, both of which are linked to the risk of diabetes.
In addition, brisk walking also promotes weight loss, which is beneficial for improving insulin sensitivity, experts say.
Expand the benefits of walks
Nevertheless, overall, the results suggest that strategies to increase total walking time are certainly beneficial for improving health. In addition, according to experts, it could make sense to motivate people to walk faster in order to further increase the health benefits of walking.
Walking is a simple and inexpensive physical activity that has beneficial effects on various social, mental and physical aspects of health, while providing a simple and effective way to protect against diabetes, especially at a faster walking pace. (as)