Older Zoomers who exercise to keep fit can be confident that walking works to lower risk factors for heart disease just as well as running.

After six years of following a large group  of runners and walkers researchers found that they had similar results lowering the risk of high blood pressure by 7.2 percent, high cholesterol by 7 percent and diabetes by 12.3 percent.

Paul T. Williams – at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California said researchers found that someone who walked at a moderate pace received the same reductions in risk as someone who ran at a vigorous pace, provided they both covered the same distance.

In the National Walkers’ Health Study participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 80 with most in their 40s and 50s.