Being physically unfit is almost as bad as smoking when it comes to your longevity, a new study has revealed
Researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Switzerland followed a group of men from the ages of 50 to 99, regularly examining them and performing exercise tests, then tracking their causes of death.
They concluded that “low aerobic capacity” was associated with a higher mortality rate, even when other risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure and cholesterol levels were discounted.
Being unfit, while less likely to cause early death than being a smoker, was found to be more dangerous to a person’s health than having high blood pressure or cholesterol readings.
While the link between fitness and longevity isn’t new, the New York Times explained that the length of the Gothenburg study made it unusually compelling – most studies followed groups for 10 or 20 years, or enrolled people who were already elderly or infirm, which made it difficult to extrapolate the findings onto younger, healthier people.
The NYT cautioned that although the study found links between low fitness levels and earlier mortality, it didn’t prove one caused the other.
But one of the Swedish researchers told the newspaper that anyone concerned by the findings could change their aerobic fitness profile relatively easily, with even small amounts of physical activity.