Over 20 million Brits to take up walking to get healthy

Brits will be tightening their shoe laces as well as their purse strings in 2009 as 20.5 million intend to take up walking to get healthy and shed unwanted pounds.

PruHealth, the insurer that rewards people for engaging in healthy behaviour, found that nearly two thirds of Brits (61 per cent) planned to begin a new diet, health or fitness regime in the New Year, and of those, almost three quarters (70 per cent) said they plan to walk regularly as part of their healthy start to 2009. However, the majority of those who want to exercise by walking (15.3 million - 75 per cent) are far off the mark when it comes to knowing exactly how much they will need to do each day to benefit.

Currently the average Brit walks for 43 minutes a day (approximately 2.9 miles), but acknowledges they need to do more and believes stepping this up to 57 minutes (or 3.8 miles) will provide the physical benefit they need. In reality health advice recommends we should in fact be taking 10,000 steps a day, equating to nearer 5 miles or 75 minutes of walking. For 40 per cent of the population this means almost doubling the amount of time they think they need to walk to make a difference.

Encouragingly, 17 per cent of Brits say they already walk around 10,000 steps a day, but a quarter (26 per cent) feel they would need to dramatically change their lifestyle in order to achieve this.

PruHealth's Chief Executive Officer, Shaun Matisonn comments: "Walking is a great form of exercise so it's very encouraging to see so many people wanting to incorporate it into their daily lives. And crucially, with the economy as it is at the moment, it is also free, which helps if you're on a tight budget.

"There does, however, seem to be a misconception as to how much walking one should ideally be doing each day and the answer that it's 10,000 steps is sure to come as a big surprise to many. It would be hard for anyone to hit this target immediately, but small changes such as getting off the bus a stop early, shopping locally without taking the car, or taking the dog for a longer walker, are all ‘steps' in the right direction. Taking 10,000 steps a day can help protect you against a wide range of diseases including strokes, diabetes and some types of cancer."

Motivations to get healthy

When it comes to sticking to our healthy resolutions over half (54 per cent) say their main motivation comes from wanting to lead a healthier lifestyle, but worryingly almost a fifth (19 per cent) admit it took a health scare to shock them into living a healthy lifestyle.

Men and women

Women are more eager to pound the pavement than men with almost three quarters (72 per cent) of women saying they will walk their way to a healthier body compared to 62 per cent of men. Men are keener to pump iron at the gym, with three in ten (30 per cent) saying they will visit the gym as part of their healthy regime, compared to only a quarter of women (21 per cent).

Help is on hand

PruHealth knows that it has never been more important for people to lead healthy lifestyles and PruHealth's Vitality Programme encourages people to do so. Vitality covers five areas - education, exercise, nutrition, screening and smoking cessation - and members could earn points by participating in healthy activities related to each area. By earning points, members can move up to different status levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum) and earn lifestyle rewards, as well as potentially lowering the cost of their PMI premiums in the process.

Shaun Matisonn, continues: "In uncertain economic times like these, that extra financial incentive to get fit has never been more important and PruHealth's philosophy is to reward our members for making the effort to stay healthy. Our Vitality programme enables members to earn rewards for looking after their health, for example by eating healthily, going to the gym or walking each day using a pedometer. We understand that sometimes we need a little encouragement to implement these changes - however small - into our lifestyle on an ongoing basis."