The effect of walking on fitness, fatness and resting blood pressure: A meta-analysis of randomised, controlled trials

Objective. The purpose of this review was to perform a meta-analysis on walking intervention studies in order to quantify the magnitude anddirection of walking-induced changes that may alter selected cardiovascular risk factors.Method. Twenty-four randomised controlled trials of walking were assessed for quality on a three-point scale. Data from these studies werepooled and treatment effects (TEs) were calculated for six traditional cardiovascular risk variables: body weight, body mass index (BMI),percentage body fat, aerobic fitness (VO2 max in ml kg−1 min−1) and resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Weighted TEs were analysedusing a random effects model with weights obtained using the inverse of the individual TE variances. Random effects models were used toinvestigate the influence of both study quality and exercise volume (