Sunday, March 13, 2011

Dog walkers 34% more likely to reach exercise benchmarks

Instead of spending thousands of dollars on various weight loss pills or going through severe diets, the best way to stay healthy and lose weight is to own a dog and make sure to take it on regular walks.

The study, performed by researchers from Michigan State University, studied the habits of dog owners and found that those who regularly take their dogs to walks are 34% more likely to satisfy the benchmark set by the federal government related to physical activity.

The researchers also found that while younger dog owners managed to get the most benefits from taking their dogs to walks, middle age people had the least amount of time for such walks.

“Obviously you would expect dog walkers to walk more, but we found people who walked their dog also had higher overall levels of both moderate and vigorous physical activities. There appears to be a strong link between owning and walking a dog and achieving higher levels of physical activity, even after accounting for the actual dog walking”, lead researcher Mathew Reeves said.
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