Light physical exercise lowers risk of developing depression, study finds

A short spell of brisk walking over five days was associated with a 16% lower rate of depressive symptoms and 43% lower odds of major depression.

Light physical exercise can lower the risk of developing depression, a major new study has revealed.

The research by University in Limerick (UL) and Trinity College Dublin (UCD) showed that 20 minutes of exercise can help lessen depressive episodes.

The findings, published in the Jama Network Open Journal, highlight how a short spell of brisk walking over five days was associated with a 16% lower rate of depressive symptoms and 43% lower odds of major depression. Moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA) was associated with greater protection against depression.

Lead author Dr Eamon Laird of UL said: “There is no agreement on how much physical activity is protective for depression overall, or how this may vary among adults with disease.

“For this work, we used 10 years of data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing which included information on depression, MVPA, and other key health-related variables such as disease, lifestyle factors, and socio-economic status.

“We sought to identify the lowest dose of MVPA associated with protection against Major Depression and depressive symptoms and the extent to which this varied based on the presence of chronic disease."

Recent figures by Aware — a support group for depression, anxiety, and related conditions in Ireland — revealed 60% of those 1,200 adults surveyed experienced depression and 80% had anxiety.

It also revealed 27% of those surveyed said they experience depression often while one in 10 respondents aged 25 and under believed they were currently depressed.

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The research by UL highlighted how depression is more common in older adults.

It can also have significant risks to a person’s health, including cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, and chronic pain.

Researchers reported that the cost of depression in the US alone is estimated to be around €191m.

It also said depression causes between 5% and 10% of the burden of all diseases in Europe.

Other findings included how 30 minutes of exercise was associated with a 7% lower risk of depressive symptoms and 44% lower odds of major depression.

While 60 minutes of exercise was associated with a 16% lower risk of depressive symptoms and 41% lower odds of major depression.

Dr Laird continued: “This study is very relevant given the high prevalence of depression in our increasing older adult population."