The faster you walk, the better for long term health

Some of us like to stroll along and smell the roses, while others march to their destination as quickly as their feet will carry them. A new study has found those who report faster walking have lower risk of premature death.

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"We studied just over 50,000 walkers over 30 years of age who lived in Britain between 1994 and 2008. We collected data on these walkers, including how quickly they think they walk, and we then looked at their health outcomes", professor Stamatakis said.

"We found any pace above slow reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, such as heart disease or stroke. Compared to slow walkers, average pace walkers had a 20% lower risk of early death from any cause, and a 24 per cent lower risk of death from heart disease or stroke", according to professor Emmanuel Stamatakis.

More in this interview with Stergos Kastelloriou.