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Faster Walkers Have 'Healthier Minds', According To New Study

Faster Walkers Have 'Healthier Minds', According To New Study

Better tell your slow mates to quicken up.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

We've all been in the situation where you're stuck behind a slow walker.

The walkway might be narrow, there could be a big crowd or your friend might just want to enjoy a lovely Sunday stroll. Whatever the case might be, it can be annoying when you don't get to go at your own pace.

But there's interesting research just out that might encourage everyone to walk a little faster.

via GIPHY

Academics from Duke University in North Carolina conducted a study and have published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They've seen that fast walkers have 'healthier minds', compared to slower paced people.

"Slower walkers were shown to have 'accelerated ageing' and their lungs, teeth and immune systems tended to be in worse shape," the study said.

More than 900 men and women from New Zealand were used for the study and researchers were able to link a slower gait to poor health.

They tracked them from when they were just toddlers and asked them to engage in regular tests until the one final test at 45-years-old.

PA

Dr Line Rasmussen led the research and adds: "The thing that's really striking is that this is in 45-year-old people, not the geriatric patients who are usually assessed with such measures."

But it wasn't just physical health that was flagged with slower walkers. Researchers used their data and found that toddlers with lower IQ scores, linguistic ability, capacity to tolerate frustration, motor skills and emotional control were also linked with a slow gait.

So you better quicken up if you want to live a better life.

There have been a few measures put in place to help out fast walkers when they're powering through the streets.

One Chinese city realised that there are people who tend to stroll when they're on their phone and has developed a special lane for those who reckon it's more important to read Facebook or Twitter while they're walking than actually looking at what's around them.

AsiaWire
AsiaWire

The 1,000-feet-long lane has been painted in the Shaanxi Province around a shopping centre.

There have been similar lanes built in the Chinese province of Chongqing as well as Washington DC, with the latter being a social experiment for National Geographic.

Whether you think it's right or wrong, there's no denying that accidents related to people being on their phones in public are rising.

The Guardian noted a study from Ohio University which said that there were 1,506 cases in 2010 compared to just 256 in 2005.

Featured Image Credit: ABC

Topics: Interesting, Community