How did leisure-time physical activity affect heart disease death rates among Harvard graduates?

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A man in athletic clothing jogs along a paved path beside a black metal fence, with trees and another person in the background. — exercise Jogging.

A long-term study of approximately 17,000 male Harvard University graduates demonstrated a significant inverse relationship between leisure-time physical activity and mortality from heart disease.

Researchers found that graduates who expended at least 2,000 kilocalories per week through physical activities experienced only half the death rate from heart disease compared to those who expended fewer than 500 kilocalories per week. This energy expenditure included both formal exercise programs and routine daily movements, such as climbing stairs.1