Nurses Health Study--what it says about walking

I’ve participated in the Nurses Health Study for many years.  This Harvard University study began in 1976 and has collected and analyzed health data on nurses ever since.  In 1976 they began with 122,000 nurses.  I consider their results to be accurate and valuable.  The 2012 newsletter shared this information about walking for health:  If the nurses (participants in the study) walked 1 ½ hours per week, they had better memory than nurses who did not walk, comparable to two years younger women.  They also had healthy aging at 15 to 20% improvement over nurses who did not walk. 

For those nurses who increased their walking exercise, there were more benefits.  For every hour per day of brisk walking, they reduced their risk of obesity by 24% and their risk of diabetes by 34%.  What about heart disease?  Those nurses who walked briskly for at least 3 hours every week lowered their risk of heart disease by 35% and their risk of stroke by 34%. 

This information can be found in the 2012 newsletter at http://www.channing.harvard.edu/nhs/wp-content/uploads/2012newsletter.pdf