An international study has disclosed for the first time the best number of steps at which most people obtain the greatest benefits – and also, that the pace of the walking provides additional health advantages.
The suggestion of walking 10 000 steps a day was first made in Japan about six decades ago when some people used pedometers, but no one proved it scientifically.
Now, a team led by the University of Granada in Spain has shown that if we focus on the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, most of the benefits are seen at around 7 000 steps.
Given the average length of a human stride – 76cm for men and 67cm for women) – taking 7 000 to 8 000 steps is equivalent to walking about 6.4km a day.
The researchers also suggest that the pace at which we walk has additional benefits, and that it is better to walk fast than slowly. With regard to the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD), most of the benefits are seen at around 7 000 steps.
The study, published in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, was a collaboration by researchers from Radboud University Medical Centre in The Netherlands, the Universities of Granada and Castilla-La Mancha in Spain and Iowa State University in the US. It was headed by physical education and sports professor Francisco Ortega.
Systematic literature review, meta-analysis
The researchers conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of data from 12 international studies involving more than 110 000 participants from their inception until October 2022.
“What makes our study different is that, for the first time, we set clear step targets,” said Granada University’s Esmée Bakker, one of the lead authors.
“We show that measurable benefits can be obtained with small increases in the number of steps daily, and that for people with low levels of physical activity, every additional 500 steps improve their health.
“This is good news because not everyone can walk almost 8 000 or 9 000 steps a day, at least not at first, so you can set small, reachable goals and gradually make progress and increase the number of steps per day.”
Surprisingly, the study revealed no difference between men and women. It also found that faster walking is associated with a reduced risk of death, regardless of the total number of steps per day.
“It doesn’t matter how you count your steps, whether you wear a smartwatch, a wrist-based activity tracker or a smartphone in your pocket: the step targets are the same,” Bakker added.
So, should we stop walking when we reach around 9 000 steps?
“Absolutely not,” said Ortega. “As few as about 2 600 and about 2 800 steps/d yield significant mortality and CVD benefits, with progressive risk reductions up to about 8 800.
“More steps are never harmful. Even as many as 16 000 steps a day don’t pose any harm. On the contrary, there are additional benefits compared to walking 7 000 to 9 000 steps a day, but the differences in risk reduction are small.
“The step target should also be appropriate to one’s age, with younger people being able to set a higher target than older people. It is also important to note that our study only looked at the effect on the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease. There are other studies and a large body of scientific evidence that show that doing moderate and even vigorous physical activity is associated with many health benefits, including improvements in sleep quality and mental health, among many others.”
Study details
Relationship of Daily Step Counts to All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events
Niels Stens Esmée Bakker Asier Mañas, Laurien Buffart, Francisco Ortega, Duck-chul Lee, Paul Thompson, Dick Thijssen, Thijs Eijsvogels.
Published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology on 10 October 2023
Abstract
Background
The minimal and optimal daily step counts for health improvements remain unclear.
Objectives
A meta-analysis was performed to quantify dose-response associations of objectively measured step count metrics in the general population.
Methods
Electronic databases were searched from inception to October 2022. Primary outcomes included all-cause mortality and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). Study results were analysed using generalized least squares and random-effects models.
Results
In total, 111,309 individuals from 12 studies were included. Significant risk reductions were observed at 2,517 steps/d for all-cause mortality (adjusted HR [aHR]: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.84-0.999) and 2,735 steps/d for incident CVD (aHR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.79-0.999) compared with 2,000 steps/d (reference). Additional steps resulted in nonlinear risk reductions of all-cause mortality and incident CVD with an optimal dose at 8 763 (aHR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.38-0.43) and 7 126 steps/d (aHR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.45-0.55), respectively. Increments from a low to an intermediate or a high cadence were independently associated with risk reductions of all-cause mortality. Sex did not influence the dose-response associations, but after stratification for assessment device and wear location, pronounced risk reductions were observed for hip-worn accelerometers compared with pedometers and wrist-worn accelerometers.
Conclusions
As few as about 2 600 and about 2 800 steps/d yield significant mortality and CVD benefits, with progressive risk reductions up to about 8 800 and about 7 200 steps/d, respectively. Additional mortality benefits were found at a moderate to high vs a low step cadence. These findings can extend contemporary physical activity prescriptions given the easy-to-understand concept of step count
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Under 5 000 daily steps still beneficial, say experts
Optimal number of daily steps to reduce all-cause mortality varies by age – Meta-analysis
Higher daily step counts strongly associated with lower mortality risk