Evaluating how individuals perceive their walking pace compared to peers may emerge as a key public health tool A study published in Scientific Reports describes the association between walking speed and the risk of metabolic diseases in individuals with obesity. Background Walking speed, together with heart rate and blood pressure, is considered to be a vital contributing factor for cardiometabolic diseases. Studies have found associations between slow walking speed and increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality among older individuals.
In Japan, the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome among individuals aged over 20 years are 27% and 18%, respectively. In the country, visceral fat accumulation is an important diagnostic criterion for metabolic syndrome. Given the strong association between obesity and metabolic disease risk, scientists in this study have investigated the association between self-reported walking speed and the risk of metabolic diseases among obese individuals.
Study design The study included more than 24,000 adults who underwent a comprehensive health checkup at a hospital in Japan between April 2011 and June 2022. Of these participants, 8578 with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 25.0 kilogram/m 2 and 9626 individuals with a waist circumference of more than 85 centimeters for men and 90 centimeters for women were designed as “obese,” according to the diagnosis criteria by the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity.
A total of 674.