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According to the study report published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, that more the speed of walking above 4 kmph, the less the risk for the disease. With every 1 km increase in speed, it is associated with a 9 per cent reduction in risk.
The number of adults with Type 2 diabetes across the globe is 537 million at present. The count is expected to reach 783 million by 2045. Therefore, the researchers say a simple and inexpensive physical activity that is also associated with several other social, mental, and physical health benefits might be an easy way of helping to stave off the disease.
The study is based on an analysis of 10 long-term studies published between 1999 and 2022. These studies monitored a total of 508,121 adults from the US, Japan, and the UK for 3 to 11 years.
Walking at 2-3 or 3-5 kmph has been found to lessen the said risk by 15 per cent compared to those who walk at speeds lesser than 2 kmph, and it is irrespective of the time spent on it. Further, 5-6 km/hour was associated with a 24 per cent lower risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Brisk walking or striding at a speed above 4 miles or 6 km/hour was associated with a reduced risk of around 39 per cent, equal to 2.24 fewer cases of Type 2 diabetes in every 100 people.
The present meta-analysis of cohort studies suggests that fairly brisk and brisk/striding walking, independent of the total volume of physical activity or time spent walking per day, may be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in adults,” said the researchers.
“While current strategies to increase total walking time are beneficial, it may also be reasonable to encourage people to walk at faster speeds to further increase the health benefits of walking,” they added.