If you don’t have getting more exercise on your list of New Year’s resolutions, you may want to add it (as long as it is medically safe to do so).

Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Kaiser Permanente have found that communities with higher prevalence of adults who do not exercise in their spare time have higher rates of death from cardiac disease.

The study, which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, identifies a crucial need for new public health interventions that can increase physical activity, the researchers say.

The researchers further expressed concern over the higher risk of CVD death for women – particularly middle-aged – and the older Black population, who don’t engage in physical activity during their free-time.

“Women are more likely to engage in sedentary behavior and have lower physical activity levels than men, which may be due to sociocultural factors like caregiving responsibilities, and persisting social expectations regarding gender roles,” says lead author Shady Abohashem, MD, MPH.

“In the case of elderly Blacks, we corroborated previous studies that indicate this group is generally less active and more susceptible to cardiovascular disease.”

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