How fast do you walk? Slow walking at 45 ‘a sign of faster ageing’ study shows

WALKING pace is usually used to assess health in older age, but could be an indicator of health from midlife according to a new study.

A slow pace of walking in middle age could be a sign of accelerated ageing results have found.

The study, based in New Zealand, has been undertaken by an international team of experts who have assessed more than 900 people across 45 years.

The investigation looked at gait speed of the subjects, as well as other ageing factors including facial age and IQ. They found those who walk slow in their midlife may be ageing faster.

The team found associations between gait and ageing, traits usually found in older age, but now seem to be reflected in middle age too.

Slower walking has been associated with other signs of accelerated ageing, like rapid deterioration of multiple organ systems and facial age.

Participants with slower gait also had lower IQs, the study found. There was a mean difference of 16 IQ points between the slowest and the fastest walkers.

The report states: “Slow gait was also associated with multiple indices of compromised structural brain integrity, including smaller total brain volume, global cortical thinning, and reduced total surface area.”

The team says the link between midlife gait speed might help predict Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Dr Clare Walton, Alzheimer’s Society Research Manager stated: “This study has shown walking speeds in midlife can be a really good indicator of how fast your brain is ageing and a good indication of how you are ageing.

“We do not know exactly how this is all linked. We do know the causes of dementia can appear decades before the symptoms start.

“Changes in the eyes, changes in walking, changes in blood, this leads to evidence to show that if you look at the right time and with the right analysis you can see how the brain is ageing in midlife.”

She said the study shows it is “never too late and never too early” to make lifestyle changes, including a balanced diet and getting exercise.

The participants in the study were assessed at multiple points, from three-years-old up to the age of 45. Their speed was measured along an electronic walkway, and they were also tested on physical function like balance and grip strength.

Personal trainer Joe Schofield agrees that people in their 40s seem older if they walk slower.

The report, published on the JAMA Network, concludes: “Gait speed is more than just a geriatric index of adult functional decline; rather, it is a summary index of lifelong ageing with possible origins in childhood CNS deficits.

Gait speed could be used as an early indicator tool to assess for dementia, the study says, because it’s “cheap, safe, easy to test repeatedly, and feasible to use among people in their 40s”.