Just 15 minutes daily can lengthen your life.

• Position: Exercise - Brief article

Talwanese people who exercise for 15 minutes a day, or 92 minutes per week, extend their expected life span by three years compared to people who are inactive, according to a study by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.

"Exercising at very high levels reduced deaths from any cause by 14%," indicates senior author Xifeng Wu, professor and chair of Department of Epidemiology. "The benefits of exercise appear to be significant even without reaching the recommended 150 minutes per week based on results of previous research."

Researchers also found that a person's risk of death from any cause decreased by four percent for every additional 15 minutes of exercise up to 100 minutes a day. Those exercising for 30 minutes dally added about four years to life expectancy. "These benefits were applicable to all age groups, both sexes, and those with cardiovascular disease risk," the authors explain.

If inactive people were to do low-volume dally exercise, one in six deaths could be postponed by their reduced risk of dying, the...