The vast majority of U.S. adults don’t get anywhere near enough physical activity to help reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease events like heart attack and strokes, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
What’s even more troubling is many of the people more apt to have a sedentary lifestyle — including those who are older, female, low-income, disabled, or Black — are also most likely to face systemic barriers to exercise, the AHA stresses in a new scientific statement published in the journal Circulation.
But a workout routine as simple as a daily 20-minute walk could help reduce some of the disproportionate heart health harms associated with an inactive lifestyle, the AHA concluded in its analysis of how barriers to exercise contribute to disparities in cardiovascular health.
“Many groups who had poor heart health also had low levels of physical activity,” said Gerald Jerome, PhD, lead