Photo via Fox News

Your walking speed may hold a clue to how long you’ll live, study suggests

Read the original at Fox News ↗
Cite

McGreal, K. (2026, November 1). Your walking speed may hold a clue to how long you’ll live, study suggests. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/health/walking-speed-clue-how-long-youll-live-study-suggests

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-11-01 · by Kelly McGreal

Quick Summary

A new study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that a person's normal walking speed could be an indicator of their overall health and longevity. The research followed 4,067 adults in the U.K., with participants averaging about 69 years old, over nearly 12 years to track the relationship between walking pace and mortality risk. During this period, 739 participants died. Beth Templin, a geriatric clinical specialist, explained that walking speed can reflect how well multiple body systems are functioning together. However, experts emphasize that while faster walking is associated with lower death risk, it does not prove causation or apply universally to all demographics without further research.
Written by AI on 2026-11-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

A new study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that walking speed could be an indicator of overall health and longevity. The research followed 4,067 adults in the U.K., with participants averaging around 69 years old, for nearly 12 years. During this period, 739 participants died. The study found that faster walking speeds were associated with a lower risk of death, even after adjusting for other health and lifestyle factors. Beth Templin, a board-certified geriatric clinical specialist from HouseFit Physical Therapy & Fitness in St. Louis, noted that walking speed can provide insight into how various body systems are functioning together. She describes it as the "sixth vital sign" because it offers a broad look at overall physical health.

Written for “Walking Speed Linked to Longevity” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 121865 · logged 2026-11-01

Story

📰 Walking Speed Linked to Longevity
Health · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
25%
5 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-01 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6252 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Kelly McGreal
49 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The speed a person normally walks could offer a simple clue about their overall health and longevity, new research suggests.
🔮 Postmenopausal women who use testosterone therapy could face a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems, new research suggests.
🔮 Major U.S. and international airline groups are pushing back against a new Ebola-related travel requirement that will affect millions of people flying into the United States.
🔮 He warned that the reluctance to speak up could leave airlines unaware of how widespread fatigue is among their crews.
🔮 "You just have to trust in Him, because His plan is so much greater than you could ever imagine," Jessie James Decker said.
🔮 Savannah James said her friends understand that traveling with her does not mean she will automatically cover their expenses.
🔮 Travelers planning to fly in costume this Halloween could face unexpected hurdles at airport security.
🔮 Pilots can then communicate with air traffic control about the nature of the problem and what assistance they might need.
🔮 "Unfortunately, flights to SMX did not meet performance expectations, and SkyWest informed American it will discontinue service as of May 7," the official said.
🔮 She told her that if she could not put the bag in the overhead bin herself, it would need to be checked.
Also by Kelly McGreal
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 49 articles by Kelly McGreal →

Topics

Fox News Digital HouseFit Physical Therapy & Fitness JAMA Network Open St. Louis U.K.

Subjects

Templin PERSON · 4× Fox News Digital ORG · 2× Beth Templin PERSON · 1× HouseFit Physical Therapy & Fitness ORG · 1× JAMA Network Open ORG · 1× St. Louis ORG · 1× U.K. GPE · 1×

Narrative

"In physical therapy, we call walking speed the 'sixth vital sign' because it's a snapshot of how well many body systems are working together," Templin, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-01
🔮 The speed a person normally walks could offer a simple clue about their overall health and longevity, new research suggests.

Claims (20 extracted, 5 hedged)

The speed a person normally walks could offer a simple clue about their overall health and longevity, new research suggests. uncertain
research → walk → health
A study published in JAMA Network Open followed 4,067 adults in the U.K., who were about 69 years old on average, to see whether their usual walking pace was linked to their risk of death over time. asserted
pace → publish → time
Participants completed a short walking test at their normal pace and also wore a wrist activity tracker for nine days to capture their walking speed during everyday life. asserted
Participants → complete → life
Over nearly 12 years of follow-up, faster walking in both settings was linked to a lower risk of death, even after researchers accounted for other health and lifestyle factors. asserted
researchers → link → factors
A total of 739 participants died during that period. asserted
total → die → period
Beth Templin, a board-certified geriatric clinical specialist and CEO of HouseFit Physical Therapy & Fitness in St. Louis, said walking speed can offer a broader look at how well the body is functioning. asserted
body → certify → look
"In physical therapy, we call walking speed the 'sixth vital sign' because it's a snapshot of how well many body systems are working together," Templin, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. asserted
who → call → Digital
Changes in walking speed can therefore offer clues about a person's health, according to the doctor. uncertain
Changes → offer → doctor
"To walk briskly, you need strong legs, a healthy heart and lungs, good balance, and a brain and nervous system that can coordinate it all," she said. asserted
she → walk → it
"When walking speed starts to slip, it's often an early warning sign that one of those systems is declining, sometimes before anything shows up on a lab test," Templin added. asserted
Templin → start → test
For older adults who want to improve their walking speed and overall fitness, simply taking more steps may not be enough. uncertain
taking → want → steps
"Build the engine, not just the habit," Templin advised. asserted
Templin → build → engine
"Most people try to walk more, but speed comes from strength and balance." asserted
speed → try → strength
The doctor suggested strengthening the legs with simple exercises, such as standing up from a chair without using the hands and doing heel raises while holding onto a counter. uncertain
doctor → suggest → counter
She also recommended adding short bursts of faster walking. asserted
She → recommend → walking
After warming up, a person could walk briskly for one minute, slow down for two minutes and then repeat, gradually increasing the faster periods. uncertain
person → warm → periods
The findings do not mean that simply walking faster will make someone live longer, experts noted. asserted
experts → mean → ?
"This study shows an association, not proof that walking faster by itself adds years," Templin reiterated. asserted
Templin → show → years
The participants included in the study were generally healthier than the larger group, the researchers noted. asserted
researchers → include → group
More research is needed to determine whether the findings apply to other groups. Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment. asserted
Digital → need → comment
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support