Health professionals indicate that regular physical exercise is important for maintaining good physical fitness and good health. While many health professionals recommend taking 10,000 steps a day, US researchers indicate in a new study that you don’t have to take that many steps to stay in shape.
A received idea?
This study published in the journal The Lancet Public Health was conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts. These indicate that it is not necessary to make 10,000 steps per day to stay in good health. They point out that this is a received idea, put forward by a Japanese pedometer brand to promote their product.
The researchers analyzed data on the walking habits of several thousand people from several countries, provided by fifteen different studies. In particular, they analyzed data on more than 47,000 adults from Asia, North America, Australia and Europe.
First, they found that the death rate decreased as the number of steps increased. However, statistics show that once a certain number of steps is reached, it no longer decreases.
The number of steps to take per day depends on your age
Amanda Paluch, a University of Massachusetts epidemiologist and lead author of the study, explains that ” stabilization occurs at different step values for older and younger adults “. The risk of premature death stabilizes in particular at around 6,000 to 8,000 steps per day for people aged sixty and over and at around 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day for people under sixty.
The researchers point out that the speed of the walk does not matter. The priority is to find a good daily rhythm for a better life expectancy. Amanda Paluch explains that you simply have to remember that ” moving a little more is beneficial, especially for people who do very little physical activity ».