How far you can walk seems to tell a lot about how long you might live.

Anne Newman of the University of Pittsburgh looked at older people who could walk a quarter of a mile, and those who could not. She checked how many were alive six years later.

“Those who actually, when they did the walk, found that they couldn’t complete the walk had death rates that were about twice as high as those who actually could when we asked them to do it.”

Even among those who completed the walk, faster finishers were more likely than slower ones to stay alive.

Newman’s advice: start walking, with professional help if necessary — then build on your success.

The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: August, 15 2006