Physical Activity and Mortality in 50-Year-Old Men

Does increasing physical activity in middle age lead to longer life? In this prospective population-based study, Swedish investigators examined the effects of changes in physical activity and of smoking cessation among 2205 men (age, 50 at study enrollment in 1970–1973).

After 35 years of follow-up, absolute mortality rates for men with low (sedentary), medium, and high (≥3 hours of active recreational sports or heavy gardening weekly) levels of physical activity were 27.1, 23.6, and 18.4 per 1000 person-years, respectively. During the first 10 years of follow-up, men who boosted their physical activity from low or medium levels to high levels exhibited significantly higher mortality than did men who sustained high baseline levels of physica…