Studies prove that one way to help you feel as young as you did 10 years ago is to
simply walk a dog every day. It doesn't even have to be your own dog!
The research was done by scientists at St. Andrews University
in Scotland and appeared in Preventative Medicine in July 2014. They assessed
the mental and physical wellbeing of 547 people with an average age of 79, 9%
of whom owned a dog, and of those, 75% of whom walked their dogs regularly.
Many earlier studies have shows that people who own dogs tend have
lower blood pressure, report being happier, score higher on tests measuring
mental well being, and are generally more fit on average than than the average person who does not own a dog, but this
is the first study to look into the mental and physical health benefits for seniors in having a dog (if they take it for walks every day).
The group that was studied wore a monitor that kept track of their physical activity. The results showed that the dog walkers
tended to have activity levels that were roughly equivalent to people 10 years
younger. They also had much better scores on tests that measured anxiety and
depression.
The lead scientist, Doctor Zhiqiang Feng suggests setting up
“dog loaning” programs could be set up with people that cannot walk their dogs for one reason or another, and the writer Steve Williams, in his article "Want to Feel 10 Years Younger? Walk a Dog," in Care2, took it another step, suggesting that if these programs were set up with dog shelters, it would benefit the two and the four footed, and be a win/win for both the dogs and people who walk them.
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