New research shows that just 15 minutes of brisk walking a day can make a big difference in life expectancy for low-income and Black Americans, highlighting the power of simple habits to reduce health disparities.
Study: Daily walking and mortality in racially and socioeconomically diverse US adults. Image Credit: Oleg Elkov / Shutterstock
In a recent article published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers explore how the duration and pace of daily walking are linked to cause-specific and overall mortality in predominantly Black and low-income American adults.
Their findings indicate that brisk walking for as little as 15 minutes a day could reduce the risk of death by 20%, compared to a non-significant 4% reduction for those who walk slowly for more than three hours. Notably, the reduction associated with slow walking was not statistically significant. However, the study found that long durations of slow walking (over one hour daily) were associated with reduced mortality from ischemic heart disease, suggesting some benefit for those unable to walk briskly.
Risk reductions from fast walking were especially pronounced among individuals with pre-existing health conditions, although all participants benefited.
The study’s questionnaire defined “fast walking” to include activities such as brisk walking, exercising, and stair climbing, which may overlap with other forms of physical activity.
Background
Walking is widely acknowledged as a beneficial activity for longevity and overall health. Many studies have shown that aspects like walking frequency, speed, and number of steps are linked to lower mortality.
Brisk or moderate-intensity walking is particularly recommended by health organizations. Some studies also suggest that light-intensity walking can improve glucose and insulin levels, reduce blood pressure, and lower inflammation markers, although findings have been mixed.
One recent study showed older adults who engaged in over 1.5 hours of light activity daily had a 30% reduction in mortality, though walking specifically was not analyzed.
However, most existing research has focused on higher-income, predominantly white populations. This limits our understanding of walking’s benefits in low-income groups, especially among Black individuals who may face barriers such as higher substance use rates, poor diet, limited access to healthcare, and unsafe neighborhoods.
These conditions can increase health risks and mortality, potentially explaining some racial disparities in life expectancy. Few extensive, long-term studies have evaluated how walking habits affect mortality in these underserved populations.
This study addresses that gap by using data from the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS), which includes a large number of low-income and Black participants, to investigate links between walking and mortality.
About the Study
Researchers used data from the SCCS, which enrolled nearly 85,000 people between the ages of 40 and 79 between 2002 and 2009. Most participants were low-income and recruited from community health centers across 12 southeastern U.S. states.
Baseline data on demographics, health history, lifestyle, and walking habits were collected through structured questionnaires. For this analysis, individuals who died within two years or had missing walking data were excluded, resulting in a final sample of nearly 80,000 participants.
Participants reported how much time they spent walking slowly and fast each day. These durations were grouped into four categories: none, less than 30 minutes, 30–60 minutes, and more than 60 minutes.
The researchers also considered lifestyle factors such as diet quality, sedentary behavior, physical activity, alcohol use, and smoking to create a composite lifestyle score. This score was based on regression coefficients associated with mortality risk. Mortality data (cause and date of death) were obtained via linkage to the National Death Index up to the end of 2022.
Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess how walking pace and duration related to mortality risk, adjusting for various demographic, behavioral, and health-related factors.
Key Findings
During a median follow-up of nearly 17 years, over 26,800 deaths occurred among the 79,856 participants. Roughly half reported no fast walking, and about one-third reported more than three hours of slow walking daily.
Fast walking showed a clear association with reduced all-cause mortality. Just 15 minutes per day of fast walking was linked to a 19% lower mortality risk compared to no fast walking.
This relationship remained significant even after adjusting for lifestyle and health factors. In contrast, slow walking showed only a small, statistically non-significant 4% reduction in mortality even at higher durations.
Fast walking was associated with lower risks of death from cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancer, and other causes, with the most substantial benefits observed for CVD, especially heart failure and ischemic heart disease. Long durations of slow walking (over one hour per day) were linked to reduced mortality from ischemic heart disease, providing some benefit for those who cannot walk briskly.
Stratified analyses suggested stronger effects among people with higher income and those who did not smoke, though benefits were observed across all subgroups. However, the magnitude of mortality reduction was generally comparable across most subgroups. Additional fast walking further reduced mortality among those already walking slowly.
The benefits were independent of other leisure-time physical activity levels, suggesting that even short bouts of brisk walking can provide health benefits regardless of broader exercise routines. Risk reduction from fast walking was especially notable among those with baseline comorbidities, although benefits were seen for all participants.
Conclusions
This large, long-term study found that fast walking was consistently linked to lower all-cause and cause-specific mortality, especially from cardiovascular diseases, in a predominantly low-income and Black population.
Even just 15 minutes of fast walking daily led to meaningful reductions in death risk. The findings highlight fast walking as a low-cost, accessible way to improve health in underserved communities.
Strengths include the large sample size, long follow-up, and focus on an underrepresented population. However, walking data were self-reported and may include other activities such as stair climbing, and physical activity was only measured at baseline, which may introduce inaccuracies or overlook changes over time. Despite these limitations, results remained stable in sensitivity analyses.
In conclusion, promoting brisk walking, even for short durations, could be a powerful strategy to reduce mortality and improve public health equity. Targeted interventions that address barriers such as safety and poor infrastructure may help make fast walking more accessible in disadvantaged communities.