Researcher found that with 15 minutes of exercise per day or 92 minutes per week can extend peoples lifespan by three years, compared to those who are sedentary, published in the journal Lancet.

"Exercising at very light levels reduced deaths from any cause by 14 percent," said study senior author Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Department of Epidemiology.

Current U.S. national recommendation requires people to exercise 30 minutes per day or 150 minutes per week; this study shows that even half of the required minimum exercise time can benefit people’s lives.

The study included more than 416,000 people in Taiwan from 1996 to 2008, measured by medical history, lifestyle. The researcher measured weekly physical activity of the participants categorized by: light, medium and high. Those who reported less than one hour a week of leisure time physical activity were classified as inactive, 54 percent of all participants were in this category. Participants where followed on average of eight years.

The study lead author Chi-Pang Wen, M.D., of the National Health Research Institutes of Taiwan, and colleagues also found that risk of death form any cause decreased by 4 percent for every additional 15 minute regiment up to 100 minutes per day over the course of the study. Those who exercise for 30 minutes increased their life expectancy by 4 years.

"These benefits were applicable to all age groups, both sexes and those with cardiovascular disease risk," said Wen. "Those who engaged in low-volume exercise had lower death rates than inactive people regardless of age, gender, health status, tobacco use, alcohol consumption or cardiovascular disease risk."

The Researchers point out that the study's findings of reduced mortality through even moderately intense exercise are likely to hold true for other populations as well.