Exercise may not be the key to living longer — it might even be aging you faster

The article reports on a Finnish twin study suggesting that exercise may not be the main reason some people live longer. After researchers adjusted for education, BMI, smoking, and alcohol use, the mortality gap between activity groups became smaller, and the most active participants appeared biologically older than those with more moderate activity.

Reading notes

#

• A 45-year study of more than 11,000 Finnish same-sex twins examined daily physical activity from 1975 to 2020.
• Participants self-reported activity time and intensity, and were sorted into sedentary, moderately active, active, and highly active groups.
• In the full sample, the least active group was about 20 percent more likely to die over 45 years than the regularly active group.
• After adjusting for education, BMI, smoking, and alcohol consumption, the difference dropped, and the sedentary group was only seven percent more likely to die than the active group.
• The researchers concluded that exercise may not extend life on its own, but may track with generally healthier lifestyles.
• The study also found faster biological aging in people who exercised too little and too much.
• The most physically active participants were about 1.8 years older biologically than those with a more modest activity level.
• A senior research scientist said the twin design was strong, but also warned that filtering by BMI may have affected the estimated impact of exercise.