Walking faster may reduce risk for developing type 2 diabetes
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Key takeaways:
- Normal and brisk walking speeds are associated with lower risk for type 2 diabetes than easy or casual walking.
- The risk for type 2 diabetes begins to decline for adults who walk at least 4 km per hour.
Walking at a faster speed may decrease the risk for developing type 2 diabetes, though more studies are needed to confirm the association, according to findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis.
“Currently, there is no specific instruction for gait speed in current guidelines,” Ahmad Jayedi, PhD, a research assistant at the Social Determinants of Health Research Center at Semnan University of Medical Sciences in Iran, told Healio. “Our results, therefore, provide some support for the incorporation of walking speed into physical activity guidelines. Our findings suggest that 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.”
Jayedi and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of observation studies assessing walking speed among adults aged 18 years and older. Studies were included if they reported the incidence of type 2 diabetes during follow-up and analyzed the risk for type 2 diabetes across categories of walking speed. The PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, CENTRAL and Web of Sciences databases were searched from inception until May 2023. Easy or casual walking was categorized as a speed of less than 3.2 km (2 miles) per hour, average or normal walking was defined as 3.2 km to 4.8 km (3 miles) per hour, fairly brisk walking was considered a speed of 4.8 km to 6.4 km (4 miles) per hour, and very brisk or striding was categorized as more than 6.4 km per hour.
The findings were published in British Journal of Sports Medicine.
There were 10 studies with 508,121 participants included in the meta-analysis. All of the studies were conducted in the U.S., Japan or the U.K. from 1999 to 2022. Five studies measured walking speed through timed tests and five used self-reported questionnaires. Seven studies used blood glucose measurements or medical records to identify type 2 diabetes and three used self-reported questionnaires.
In pooled analysis, adults who walked at a normal speed (RR = 0.85; 95% CI, 0.7-1), fairly brisk speed (RR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.65-0.87) or brisk/striding speed (RR = 0.61; 95% CI, 0.49-0.73) had a lower risk for type 2 diabetes than those who walked at a casual speed. Each 1 km per hour increase in walking speed was associated with a 9% reduction in type 2 diabetes risk (RR = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.88-0.94). The risk for type 2 diabetes began to decline for adults walking 4 km per hour and continued to decrease linearly up to a walking speed of 8 km per hour.
Of the included studies, three were considered to have a moderate risk of bias and seven had a serious risk of bias due to confounding factors and the assessment of walking speed. Jayedi said the studies that used self-reported methods tended to report weaker associations between walking speed and the risk for type 2 diabetes, though the associations were still significant.
“Prospective cohort studies that used objective methods to measure walking speed, such as timed walking-pace tests, are needed to present more robust evidence,” Jayedi said.
Jayedi said future studies could also examine whether walking in the morning, afternoon or evening is more beneficial for reducing type 2 diabetes risk.
For more information:
Ahmad Jayedi, PhD, can be reached at ahmadjayedi@yahoo.com.
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