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Slow walking speed at 45 linked to faster agein

Walking Speed - Level 0

People who walk slowly at the age of 45 may get old more quickly. They could get physically and mentally older. Doctors know that older people who walk slowly are more likely to have health problems. Slow walkers in their 70s and 80s often die sooner than fast walkers. This may be the same for people in their 40s.

Researchers looked at the health records of 904 people. The researchers looked at the people's memory and intelligence. They did tests on the people. The people had to say the alphabet while walking. The people who walked more slowly showed less brain activity while saying the alphabet.

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Walking Speed - Level 1

People who walk slowly at the age of 45 may age faster. They could become physically and mentally older. Walking speed could help doctors understand more about health problems older people have. Doctors know that older people who walk slowly are more likely to have health problems. This may be the same for younger people. A researcher said: "Doctors know that slow walkers in their 70s and 80s tend to die sooner than fast walkers their same age."

Researchers looked at the health records of 904 people. Some records went back to when people were three years old. The researchers looked at how good the people's memory was and their intelligence. Researchers did tests on the people. The people had to say the alphabet while walking at a normal and fast speed. The people who walked more slowly showed less brain activity in brain scans while saying the alphabet.

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11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Walking Speed - Level 2

Slowest

Researchers say people who walk slowly at the age of 45 may age faster. Slow walkers in their forties and fifties could get older more quickly than faster walkers. This could make people physically and mentally older. Walking speed could help doctors understand more about the health problems older people have. Doctors already know that older people who walk slowly are more likely to have health problems. They wanted to find out if this was the same for younger people. A researcher said: "Doctors know that slow walkers in their 70s and 80s tend to die sooner than fast walkers their same age."

The researchers looked at the data of 904 people. The people had records of health checks from throughout their lives. Some records went back to when the people were three years old. The researchers looked at how quickly people could calculate things and how good their memory was as well as their intelligence. Researchers did tests on the participants at different walking speeds. The participants had to say the alphabet while walking at a normal and fast speed. The people who walked more slowly showed less brain activity in brain scans while saying the alphabet.

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11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Walking Speed - Level 3

New research shows that people who walk more slowly at the age of 45 may be more likely to age faster. Scientists said that slower walkers who are in their forties and fifties could get older more quickly than faster walkers. This ageing could be both physically and mentally. The scientists said walking speed could help doctors understand more about the age-related health problems that people have. Doctors already knew that older people who walked slowly were more likely to have health problems. They wanted to find out if this was the same for younger people. Researcher Terrie Moffitt said: "Doctors know that slow walkers in their 70s and 80s tend to die sooner than fast walkers their same age."

The researchers conducted a study and looked at test data of 904 people. The people in the tests had medical records of health checks from throughout their lives. For some participants, these records went back to when they were three years old. The researchers used data on the intelligence of the participants. They looked at how quickly people could calculate things and how good their memory was. They also did tests on the participants at different walking speeds. The scientists asked the participants to say the alphabet while walking at a normal speed and fast speed. They scanned the participants' brains and found that people who walked more slowly showed less brain activity while saying the alphabet.

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Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

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25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson