Keeping fit counts from a young age to keep you healthy in older age

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-03-01 03:00

International

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Your fitness level in early adulthood already impacts your risk of death and heart attacks, according to international researchers. The team followed a group of nearly 5000 people for 35 years beginning in young adulthood to see how their fitness impacted their risk of health problems in later life. The participants had their cardiorespiratory fitness tested when they were young and as they aged, and the researchers say the fitter the participants were at a young age, the less likely they were to have died of any cause or had fatal or non-fatal heart problems. The researchers say those who retained greater fitness levels through their mid-life also had a lower likelihood of death or heart problems.