Walking and Lower Chance of Depression

The good news: any physical activity level is beneficial and higher “doses” of physical activity are linked with more benefits. Recent research findings show that moderate-intensity activity of as few as 20 minutes, 5 days per week, can lower risks of depressive symptoms and reduce the odds of experiencing major depression, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Network Open (2023; doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.22489). A clear dose-response relationship was found—more minutes of daily exercise reduced risks more.

University of Limerick and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, researchers based these findings on a study including 4,016 older adults. Data included information from time points across a 10-year period. The risk reduction for mental health issues related to depression from physical activity occurs at a lower threshold than the minimum requirements of physical activity for risk reduction of overall disease. Current guidelines for minimum requirements of physical activity to reduce disease risks are 150-minutes per week of moderate activity or 75-minutes per week of vigorous intensity activity. Benefits for mental health were found from as little as 100 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity.

“However, there is no agreement on how much physical activity for (reduction of) depression overall, or how this may vary among adults with disease,” says lead study author Eamon Laird, PhD, research fellow in the department of physical education and sport sciences and University of Limerick.