Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Encouraging physical activity among adults at risk for or with CVD is pivotal for prevention and management. Walking provides an avenue for most adults to mitigate sedentary behavior and elevate their physical activity levels. Regular walking can help individuals at risk for CVD break the cycle of inactivity and improve overall cardiovascular health.
Prevalence of Walking: An analysis of data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey revealed that the prevalence of walking declines with increasing CVD risk. Specifically:
- Among those without CVD and not at risk, 66.6% reported engaging in walking.
- For individuals at risk (overweight or with obesity plus one or more additional risk factors), the prevalence decreased to 59.5% (with two risk factors) and 53.6% (with three risk factors).
- Those diagnosed with CVD exhibited a prevalence of 50.2%.
- Interestingly, walking for transportation was not significantly associated with CVD risk.
A Cochrane review was performed about the effect of walking on blood pressure and heart rate and the results were:
“Moderate‐certainty evidence suggests that walking probably reduces SBP. Moderate‐ or low‐certainty evidence suggests that walking may reduce SBP for all ages and both sexes. Low‐certainty evidence suggests that walking may reduce DBP and heart rate. Moderate‐ and low‐certainty evidence suggests walking may reduce DBP and heart rate for all ages and both sexes.”
Resources :
Lee LL, Mulvaney CA, Wong YK, Chan ESY, Watson MC, Lin HH. Walking for hypertension. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD008823. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008823.pub2. Accessed 25 February 2024.
