National Hypnotherapy Society | Public Health England publishes 10…

10 minutes of brisk walking every day can have great benefits on your health and improve your quality of life, Public Health England says.

As part of the 'Everybody active, every day' framework, a national, evidence-based approach to embed physical activity into the fabric of daily life, Public Health England has found that just 10 minutes of moderate intensity activity each day can be beneficial to your health and well-being.

Brisk walking (at least 3 miles per hour) has no skill, facility, or equipment requirement and is more accessible and acceptable than other forms of physical activity. For currently inactive individuals, evidence shows the following benefits can be achieved from 10 minutes brisk walking each day for seven days: increased physical fitness; greater ease of performance of everyday physical activities; improved mood; improved quality of life; increased body leanness and healthier weight; and 15 per cent reduction in risk of early death.

According to the guidelines, individuals with existing health conditions would likely achieve greater health benefits due to improvements in management of their condition and reduced risk of developing comorbidities.

The 10 minute brisk walking each day is likely to be seen as achievable by the one in four adults in England who are currently classified as 'inactive' by virtue of doing less than 30 minutes physical activity per week.

In addition, walking interventions in people active but not achieving the UK Chief Medical Officers' (CMOs) guidelines have consistently achieved an additional 30 minutes of walking per week, lifting people out of the 'inactive' category at which the greatest risks to health persist.

The guidelines says that the accessibility and acceptability of walking has particular potential for a cohort of the population with particular need for increased physical activity and who are currently inactive or doing less than the CMO's guidelines, particularly those in mid-life (aged 40-60 years) in lower socioeconomic groups.

It predicts that if one in 10 of the seven million people within this cohort of the English population started to do 10 minutes of walking per day, it would prevent 251 deaths per year an d achieve an economic saving of £ 310 million per year.

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