Overview
- An analysis in Nature Cardiovascular Research used wrist accelerometers from roughly 80,000 UK Biobank participants without coronary heart disease and followed them for about eight years.
- Women achieved about a 30% lower incidence of coronary heart disease with roughly 250 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week, whereas men needed about 530 minutes for a similar reduction.
- Meeting the widely recommended 150 minutes per week was associated with a 22% lower coronary heart disease risk in women compared with 17% in men.
- In a separate cohort with established coronary heart disease, adherence to recommended activity levels was linked to a roughly threefold greater reduction in all-cause mortality for women than for men.
- The authors and expert commentators emphasized the observational, majority-White sample and urged replication and trials, noting that women were on average less likely to meet activity targets.