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Many people – including some health organizations – have endorsed the idea that we have to walk 10,000 steps a day to be in the best of our health.
But while it is true that regular physical activity is essential to health, the figure of 10,000 is totally arbitrary. It did not come from a scientific study, but from a 1960s Japanese advertising promotion for the world's first portable step counter.
Since too many people are doing too little exercise these days, recommending 10,000 steps a day without evidence to support may seem trivial. The problem is that for many people, this figure seems so inaccessible that they give up the idea of increasing their physical activity.
So, what is a reasonable daily goal? How many steps are badociated with better health and a longer life?
A new study, published Wednesday in JAMA Internal Medicine, suggests that this number could be well below 10,000, at least for older women (and perhaps for older men as well).
Specifically, the study found that an average of only 4,440 steps per day was "significantly badociated with lower mortality rates."
"Doing 10,000 steps a day may seem daunting, but we find that even a modest increase in the number of steps is linked to much lower mortality among older women," said I-Min Lee, lead author of the # 39, study and epidemiologist at Harvard University. a published statement.
"Our study adds to a growing understanding of the importance of physical activity to health, clarifies the number of steps involved in lowering mortality, and amplifies the message: More, a little more is helpful," he adds. -she.
Details of the study
The study involved 16,741 elderly women aged 62 to 101 years old. (Their average age was 72 years old.) None of them had heart disease, cancer or diabetes at the time of enrollment, and all self-rated as being "good" or "excellent" . "
At the beginning of the study, women wore an accelerometer to the hips for seven consecutive days. The camera followed the number of steps taken, as well as the speed at which they took those steps.
Based on these accelerometer readings, the researchers divided the women into four groups. Those in the lowest quartile received an average of less than 2,718 steps per day, while those in the highest quartile averaged 8,442 steps or more per day.
The women were then followed for four years. During this period, 504 of them died.
The study found that older women who averaged 4,400 steps a day were 41% less likely to die in the next four years than those who walked only 2,700 steps a day.
In addition, although the risk of death continued to decrease with increasing daily steps, it capped at about 7,500 steps, well below the 10,000 steps defined in many health-related recommendations.
The study also revealed that it does not matter whether women walk fast or slowly. "The number of steps, rather than the incremental intensity, was the systematic measure linked to lower mortality rates," Lee and colleagues said in their paper.
Limits and implications
This study was an observation, so it can not establish a direct link between the measures taken and a lower risk of premature death. Although researchers took into account many health-related factors, women who walked more were perhaps in better health. In fact, women in the study were generally more active than most women of their age in the United States.
In addition, participants' steps were recorded for only one week. This week may not have been representative of their walking habits. (The researchers however repeated the badessment of the stage over one to three years for a subgroup of women and found that their walking habits remained essentially the same.)
In addition, the study only covered older women, although Lee told Susan Scutti, a journalist at CCN, that she thought the results would likely apply equally to older men because "we know that the relationship between physical activity and different health outcomes seem to be similar between men and women ".
That the findings apply to younger people is less clear. "For a younger age group, it could take more steps," Lee said.
The most important message to remember from this study, however, is not about a specific number. It's about being physically active.
As Lee told Scutti, "If you do nothing, do something. Get your steps up to 4,500 and you will begin to see benefits. For people who are ready to do more, of course. "
"And if you feel good about 10,000 steps against 7,500, I say," Go ahead! "
IMF: A summary of the study is available on the JAMA Internal Medicine website.
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