Dancing and cardiovascular disease

Elvert Barnes CC BY-SA 2.0 

A study just published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine by researchers from The University of Sydney and Western Sydney University concluded that moderate-intensity dancing was more strongly associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease mortality than moderate-intensity walking.

The cohort study looked at population surveys of over 48,000 adults over the age of forty in the United Kingdom.  The authors surmised that "The association between dance and cardiovascular disease mortality may be explained by high-intensity bouts during dancing, lifelong adherence, or psychosocial benefits."

An interview with one of the authors, Dafna Merom from WSU, can be found on the ABC website.

Dafna Merom, Ding Ding & Emmanuel Stamataki.  Dancing Participation and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: A Pooled Analysis of 11 Population-Based British Cohorts American Journal of Preventive Medicine [Articles in Press]. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2016.01.004