While researchers have long said that a person should walk at least 10,000 steps a day, a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has found that that is the upper limit.
The new research shows every extra step taken after 2,200 steps a day lowers the risk of heart disease and early death even if a person is spending the rest of the day sedentary.
About the study
Researchers have long known that walking up to or more than 10,000 steps a day can have a positive impact on a person’s health. However, according to the new study, published on Tuesday (Mar 5), the amount of steps has the same effect even for people who are sedentary most of the day.
The study led by researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia analysed the data from more than 70,000 people aged around 61 from the United Kingdom Biobank. The participants were asked to wear an accelerometer for a week to measure their exercise levels.
What did the research find?
After a nearly seven-year follow-up with the participants, researchers found that 1633 deaths and 6190 cardiovascular events such as heart attack or stroke had occurred.
The study found that getting 9,000 to 10,000 steps per day lowered the risk of developing cardiovascular disease by at least 21 per cent. Additionally, the lowest risks of stroke and heart attack were observed in those who took around 9,700 steps per day, according to the research.
The lowest risk of early death, according to the study, was among people who take between 9,000 to 10,500 steps every day; it also cuts the risk of early death by 39 per cent and the risk of a heart attack or stroke by more than a fifth.
The study also found that any number of steps above 2,200 a day was linked to lower risks, and the more steps the higher the benefits.
The halfway point for both lowered the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and early death, as per the research was somewhere between 4,000 and 4,500 steps a day.
“This is by no means a get out of jail card for people who are sedentary for excessive periods of time,” said lead author of the study and research fellow, Dr Matthew Ahmadi, in a statement.
He added, “However, it does hold an important public health message that all movement matters and that people can and should try to offset the health consequences of unavoidable sedentary time by upping their daily step count.”
