An international team of researchers has found that Nordic walking may have antidepressant effects, helping people with depression recover more quickly than previously thought.
Depression is one of the world’s most common mental health disorders, affecting an estimated 5.7% of adults.
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The study included 64 adults with moderate to severe depression. None had previously participated in regular exercise. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Nordic walking group (48 people) or a control group (16 people).
For 10 weeks, the Nordic walking group trained twice a week for one-hour sessions under the supervision of an experienced instructor. Participants wore heart rate monitors to ensure they exercised at a moderate intensity.
Researchers assessed participants’ symptoms before, during and after the program using the Beck Depression Inventory-II, a widely used questionnaire for measuring depression severity.
The study found that Nordic walking significantly reduced depressive symptoms. Participants with severe depression experienced faster and greater improvements during the first five weeks than those with moderate depression.
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By the end of the 10-week program, 53.6% of participants in the Nordic walking group had achieved remission, meaning their symptoms had fallen below the threshold for clinical depression.
The researchers said the findings support the use of physical activity as a simple, accessible and effective complementary treatment for depression.
