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Want to live an extra 5 to 10 years? Adopt this habit, study suggests [stargate finance bridge]

In a busy world, the task of getting more movement into your daily life can often get put on the back burner.

But there’s a reason to rethink your priorities — getting as active as the top 25% of the US population could extend your life by at least five years, according to a new study published Thursday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

“I was surprised to find that the loss of life years in the USA due to low levels of physical activity might rival the losses due to smoking and high blood pressure,” said senior study author Dr. Lennert Veerman, professor of public health in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at Griffith University in Australia, via email.

Many studies have examined the connections between physical activity and longevity. In fact, Veerman’s research was inspired by a 2019 study that found the risk of premature death lowered the more physical activity participants did, he said. The activity levels in that study were measured with accelerometers — wearable activity-tracking devices.

The 2019 study, along with others, had already shown that when measured with accelerometry, the relationship between physical activity and early death is about twice as strong when compared with levels gauged by surveys or questionnaires, Veerman said.

“I wondered how that would translate to life expectancy, and how much extra life time a single hour of walking might bring,” Veerman added.