Owning a dog may encourage older people to exercise

Doctors should ‘prescribe’ dogs to old people to help them stay active in their retirement, a study has advised.

Researchers made the recommendation after finding dog owners got much more exercise than those without. It seems having a pet pestering you to go walkies helped you to keep fit as well, researchers said.

Dog owners aged over 65 got an extra 22 minutes of moderate exercise a day compared to non-dog owners. This is enough to meet the World Health Organisations recommended minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week.

Researchers looked at 43 pairs of dog owners and non-dog-owners in three counties, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Cambridgeshire. The participants wore an activity monitor strapped to their thigh that counted the number of steps they took. They were also asked to keep a diary.

They found that dog owners took 10,030 steps a day compared to 7,260 for those without dogs. In all the dog owners spent 119 minutes a day walking, 32 minutes at a moderate pace, compared to 96 minutes and 11 minutes for non-dog owners.

The authors, writing in the journal BMC Public Health said: ‘Owning a dog, may therefore motivate older adults to engage in appropriate levels of PA [physical activity] for health. ‘Health promotion professionals could consider encouraging appropriate dog ownership, or shared care of a dog to promote PA [physical activity] in older adults.’

Dr Philippa Dall, senior research fellow at Glasgow Caledonian University and lead author said: ‘We found that dog owners aged 65 and over spent on average an additional 22 minutes walking, taking an extra 2,760 steps per day when compared to people who didn’t own a dog. ‘Over the course of a week this additional time spent walking may in itself be sufficient to meet WHO recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

The researchers also found that dog owners had fewer periods of sitting down - than non-dog owners, although the total time spent sitting down overall did not differ between the two groups.

Nancy Gee, of the WALTHAM centre for pet nutrition, a co-author of the study said: ‘Our results indicate that dog ownership may play an important role in encouraging older adults to walk more. ‘Ultimately, our research will provide insights into how pet ownership may help older people achieve higher levels of physical activity or maintain their physical activity levels for a longer period of time, which could improve their prospects for a better quality of life, improved or maintained cognition, and perhaps, even overall longevity.’

The 54 participants were all white British, including 54 women and 32 men, aged between 65 and 81. Most of the dog owners had sole responsibility for care and walking the dog. Some 69 per cent of the dogs were pedigree, and in a range of sizes – 33 per cent toy and small, 38 per cent medium, and 30 per cent large and giant.
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