Cardiovascular disease

Study: 15-Minute Walk Cuts Heart Disease Risk by Two-Thirds

Published OCT 28 2025

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The Facts

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Tuesday examined 33,560 U.K. adults who walked fewer than 8,000 steps daily and found that those who accumulated steps in longer walking sessions had significantly lower health risks.
ScienceDaily
EuroNews
Annals of Internal Medicine
Participants who walked continuously for 15 minutes or longer had a cardiovascular disease risk of 4%, while those who walked in bursts of 5 minutes or fewer had a 13% risk — roughly two-thirds the risk.
ScienceBlog.com
The Times of India
Earth.com
The research tracked participants for an average of 8 years and found that all-cause mortality risk decreased from 4.36% among short-bout walkers to 0.80% among those walking continuously for 15 minutes or longer.
Daily Mail
The National News
NBC
Among the most sedentary participants who took 5,000 steps or fewer daily, cardiovascular disease risk dropped from 15% for five-minute walkers to 7% for those maintaining 15-minute walking sessions.
Healthline
BBC News
ScienceBlog.com
The study found that 42.9% of participants accumulated most of their daily steps in bouts shorter than 5 minutes, while only 8% engaged in walking sessions lasting 15 minutes or longer, despite the latter group showing superior health outcomes.
Daily Mail
Medicalxpress
Independent
Dr. Matthew Ahmadi from the University of Sydney noted that the popular 10,000 daily steps target originated from a Japanese pedometer manufacturer rather than scientific research.
EurekAlert!
The National News
Daily Mail

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

This study has serious flaws that make its conclusions unreliable. The observational design can't prove causation, and the negative control test actually identified unexpected associations with accidents, suggesting that important factors were missed. It's premature to change health recommendations based on such limited evidence.

Science Media Centre

Narrative B

Evidence strongly suggests that longer walking sessions dramatically slash heart disease risk for inactive adults. Those who walk continuously for 10–15 minutes face just a 4% risk of cardiovascular events, versus 13% for short walkers. This new research clearly reveals that a single long walk can have a greater impact on overall heart health than short bursts.