Overview

• Fast walking for just 15 minutes a day was associated with a nearly 20% reduction in total mortality and a pronounced drop in cardiovascular deaths.
• The analysis included 79,856 adults aged 40–79 recruited at community health centers across 12 Southeastern states, with 66% of participants identifying as Black.
• Risks remained low after adjusting for leisure-time physical activity and other lifestyle factors, indicating an independent benefit of walking pace.
• Investigators linked baseline walking data to the National Death Index over a median 16.7-year follow-up that recorded 26,862 deaths.
• Authors warn that reliance on self-reported baseline pace and absence of activity updates over time may have introduced misclassification errors.