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A new study revealed that people who walk at a slow pace are almost four times more likely to die from Covid-19. They also have over twice the risk of contracting a severe version of the virus.
The study was carried out by a team of researchers from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, led by Professor Tom Yates at the University of Leicester.
For the study, researchers examined 412,596 middle-aged UK Biobank participants’ relative association of body mass index (BMI) and self-reported walking pace with the risk of contracting severe Covid-19 and Covid-19 mortality.
The findings of the study suggested that slow walkers of a normal weight to be almost 2.5 times more likely to develop severe Covid-19 and 3.75 times more likely to die from the virus than normal-weight fast walkers.
Professor Yates, Lead Researcher for the study and a Professor of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Health at the University of Leicester said: "We know already that obesity and frailty are key risk factors for Covid-19 outcomes. This is the first study to show that slow walkers have a much higher risk of contracting severe Covid-19 outcomes, irrespective of their weight.”
He added: "With the pandemic continuing to put unprecedented strain on health care services and communities, identifying individuals at greatest risk and taking preventative measures to protect them is crucial."
Notably, the research further revealed that normal-weight slow walkers are more at risk for both severe COVID-19 and COVID-19 mortality than fast walkers with obesity. Furthermore, the risk was uniformly high in normal weight slow walkers and slow walkers with obesity.
On this, Professor Yates further said: “Fast walkers have been shown to generally have good cardiovascular and heart health, making them more resilient to external stressors, including viral infection but this hypothesis has not yet been established for infectious disease.”
The study 'Obesity, walking pace and risk of severe COVID-19 and mortality: analysis of UK Biobank' was published in the International Journal of Obesity.
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