News Story

Unleashed: The benefits of walking your dog

Good news for dogs and their owners. If all dog owners walked their dogs for half an hour five times a week the health benefits would be the same as giving up smoking, according to a new study by Professor Adrian Bauman from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

The slightly whimsical and also somewhat serious public health study in the Christmas issue of the Medical Journal of Australia reported that almost half of NSW households had a dog. On average dog owners walked only 18 minutes per week more than people who didn't own dogs. "Although most dogs are loved and well cared for by their owners, a key question is whether dogs might improve their owners' health,” Adrian said.

Previous studies have found that health benefits from dog ownership include companionship and support, especially for older people. There is also evidence that dog ownership lowers the risk of heart disease. However, according to Adrian, his study is the first to examine the direct health benefits of dog walking.

“Our research focuses on the amount of time spent walking dogs and the possible health benefits to their owners. These factors have generally been ignawed by researchers. Hence our report cuts to the bone and unleashes an incisive public health argument for increased dog walking in Australia," he said.

Of the 894 respondents in the NSW-wide survey, 47 per cent achieved 150 minutes of exercise per week, as recommended by the US Surgeon General to gain health benefits. Twenty-seven per cent of those people achieved the target only through walking. The study also found that for 12 per cent of the population walking their dog was half of their total walking per week.

According to Adrian's research, only people who walk their dog for more than an hour every week are more likely than non-owners to achieve sufficient physical activity to experience health benefits, and this was a very small proportion of dog owners. "Looking at overall physical activity, similar proportions of owners and non-owners achieved 150 minutes of activity per week. In fact, our survey found that dog owners who don't walk their dogs are significantly less likely to meet the exercise guidelines than non-owners.

"If all dog owners would just walk their pet for at least 150 minutes per week the percentage of the population doing sufficient physical activity would increase from 47 to 71 per cent. Such an increase would be much greater than most of the broad national campaigns designed to promote physical activity.

"A conservative estimate suggests that for every five per cent increase in the number of adults who are sufficiently active, there would be an annual saving in health costs of $36 million. According to our calculations, if all dog owners walked their dogs more it would result in a 24 per cent increase in people doing sufficient exercise, resulting in direct health care savings of $175 million per year," he said.

According to Adrian, these health and economic benefits would quickly become apparent. "The savings would accrue rapidly because the reduction in the risk of heart disease occurs sooner following the start of physical activity than it would after stopping smoking or changes in diet.

“Those savings would increase again if the benefits of improved mental health and reduced stress were included. Even if we factor in potential risks associated with dogs, such as dog bites, the savings for health funding remain very positive.”

According to Adrian, dog owners in general are not more active than non-owners unless they practise regular dog walking. “None the less, it might be a useful health promotion strategy for inactive non-dog owners to acquire a dog in order to start regular walking," he said. "There would be reciprocal benefits for canine health - from the dog's perspective the amount of walking is generally 'never enough'.

“We should paws then, put our best feet forward and take 'man's best friend' for a walk. We advocate a campaign to promote walkies for all by the Year 2010,” Adrian said.

Courtesy of Uniken

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