2023-08-10 23:46:57
Study reveals that 4,000 daily steps can reduce the risk of mortality, challenging the common norm of 10,000 steps (Getty)
Hitting the magic number of 10,000 steps per day is a common fitness goal, but scientific evidence is lacking that that number is truly ideal for everyone. Now, a new study has found that significant health benefits can start with as little as 4,000 steps per day.
With this in mind, a team of scientists led by Maciej Banach, a professor of preventive cardiology at the Lodz Medical Academy in Poland, analyzed 17 studies that followed more than 200,000 people for an average of just over seven years.
The analysis showed that the benefits started with around 2,300 steps per day, which was associated with a significantly reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Now, at 4,000 steps, the risk of dying from any cause also began to drop significantly.
Both numbers, which represent medians, are below the 5,000-step limit for what the study notes is typically considered a sedentary lifestyle.
Physical inactivity, the fourth leading risk of global death, affects 3.2 million annually; walking can change the trend (iStock)
Beyond these distances, the researchers said, there were other benefits: every additional 1,000 steps was associated with a 15% reduction in the risk of dying from any cause, while an increase of 500 steps per day was associated with a 7% reduction in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, according to the study.
Banach, the study’s lead author, said in a phone interview Wednesday that his findings were not intended to undermine 10,000-step goals, but rather to offer hope to people struggling to reach that number.
“It’s a very important message because I’ve had many patients who just got discouraged when I tried to persuade them to aim for 7,000 to 10,000 steps a day,” he said of publishing his findings in the peer-reviewed journal. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Walking benefits apply universally: Findings relevant across different countries, genders and age ranges, according to study (Getty Images)
Insufficient physical activity is the fourth leading risk of death worldwide, accounting for about 3.2 million deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization, which measures exercise requirements by time and intensity rather than steps.
A study last year found that global levels of physical activity, already below 10,000 steps per day on average worldwide, had declined after the COVID-19 outbreak and had not returned to pre-hit levels. the pandemic, in February 2022.
The advice to aim for walking 10,000 steps every day was not originally born from scientific data, but stemmed from a Japanese marketing ploy that used a name that loosely translated as “10,000 step meter” to sell pedometers, such as The Washington Post has previously reported.
Healthy daily step goals change with age: 7,000 to 13,000 for under 60; 6,000 to 10,000 for seniors (Getty Images)
But US physical activity guidelines say people can still choose goals like walking 10,000 steps as a way to meet their exercise requirements.
In that sense, Banach emphasized that the review findings are not intended to encourage people to reduce their number of daily steps, but to aim as high as possible; as the most notable benefits are between 7,000 and 13,000 steps per day for people under 60, and between 6,000 and 10,000 steps for older adults, depending on the results.
“We realized that for younger adults, this expected reduction in mortality was greater, even up to 50 percent,” said the expert.
Walking just 2,300 steps a day associated with significantly reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (Getty)
The reasons for this were probably the result of a formula used in other parts of medicine of “’the sooner the better’ and ‘the longer on target the better,’” according to Banach. Those who follow medical guidance on exercise and diet at a younger age are more likely to be within healthy limits for cholesterol and blood pressure, so “we could expect significantly greater health benefits.”
“Therefore, we must not only remember to have regular physical activities, but also start as soon as possible,” he said. Being that the study determined that the benefits were applied in different countries and genders.
What’s more, Banach said other studies are planned to look at the role of very intense exercise, such as marathons or Iron Man races, as well as the impact of different step counts on specific diseases, such as cancer or stroke. But the main findings on the benefits of taking extra steps each day are clear, he says: “The more, the merrier.”
*Victoria Bisset is a news reporter for The Washington Post’s London Hub.
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