Adherence
Increasing leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in later adulthood (ages 40-61) after a period of inactivity reduces all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer-related mortality to levels comparable to those who maintain high activity levels from adolescence.
If you have been inactive for most of your life, starting or significantly increasing your physical activity between ages 40 and 61 can drastically lower your risk of dying from any cause, heart disease, or cancer. You do not need to have been an athlete since youth to gain these life-extending benefits; the key is to become active in later adulthood.
Adults who were less active throughout most of the adult life course but increased LTPA in later adulthood (40-61 years of age) also had lower risk for all-cause (hazard ratio [HR], 0.65; 95% CI, 0.62-0.68), CVD-related (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.53-0.61), and cancer-related (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77-0.92) mortality.
Why this rating
Large prospective cohort study (n=315,059) with long follow-up (mean 13.6 years) and rigorous adjustment for confounders.
Source
Association of Leisure-Time Physical Activity Across the Adult Life Course With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality
Pedro F. Saint‐Maurice et al. · JAMA Network Open · 2019
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