While 10 000 steps a day is considered the golden standard to improve health, as few as 3 800 steps per day has benefits, and walking at a faster pace is even better, according to a recent randomised study.
Researchers from the University of Sydney looked at data from 78 430 mostly white UK adults aged 40 to 70, comparing step counts, average speed, and health outcomes over about seven years of follow-up.
They found that for every 2 000 steps participants took per day, on average, their risk of early death was 8%-11% lower, up to 10 000 steps a day.
But walking just 3 800 steps daily had benefits, specifically for brain health, reducing the risk of dementia by 25%, according to data. And people who walked about 9 800 steps daily had a 50% lower risk of dementia, reports Business Insider.
Walking pace and intensity also made a difference for health outcomes, with faster walkers showing greater benefits for cognitive health and prevention of illnesses like heart disease and cancer, according to data.
The optimal speed for a 30-minute walk was about 112 steps per minute, slightly faster than what previous research has identified as a healthy, brisk walking speed of 4.3km an hour, or 100 steps per minute.
Participants got more benefits in fewer steps if they were purposeful with their walking, and did it with the intention of exercising rather than simply moving from room to room during their day. Researchers found the ideal amount of purposeful walking was around 6 000 steps a day.
The findings suggest that both walking distance and speed could be helpful tools for improving health and reducing risk of illness, according to the researchers.
“The message here is that for protective health benefits, people could not only ideally aim for 10 000 steps a day but also aim to walk faster,” said Dr Matthew Ahmadi, co-lead author of the study that was published in JAMA Neurology, and research fellow at the University of Sydney.
A 2022 study found a brisk walking pace, around 5km an hour, was most effective for slowing signs of biological ageing, potentially leading to a longer, healthier life by as much as 16 years.
And one 2019 study found that walking seemed to reduce the risk of early death in as few as 4 400 steps per day.
The idea that walking 10 000 steps per day is optimal may be as much based in marketing as in science, said Daniel Lieberman, a Harvard palaeoanthropologist who has studied the evolution of exercise.
The number was popularised by a Japanese company to help sell the first commercial pedometer, and 10 000 was chosen because it was both catchy and easy to remember.
Aiming for 10 000 steps can be overly ambitious, but having a convenient goal may be helpful if it motivates you to be active.
“We all have deep fundamental instincts to avoid unnecessary activity, so we need those nudges to help people get started,” he said
Study details
Association of Daily Step Count and Intensity With Incident Dementia in 78 430 Adults Living in the UK
Borja del Pozo Cruz, Matthew Ahmadi, Sharon L. Naismith, et al
Published in JAMA Neurology on 6 September 2022
Key Points
Question Is there a dose-response association of daily step count and intensity with incidence of all-cause dementia among adults living in the UK?
Findings This cohort study of adults assessed with wrist-worn accelerometers found that accruing more steps per day was associated with steady declines in dementia incidence risk, up to 9 800 steps per day, beyond which the benefits upturned. The dose associated with 50% of maximal observed benefit was 3 800 steps per day, and steps at higher intensity (cadence) were associated with lower incidence risk.
Meaning The findings in this study suggest that accumulating more steps per day just under the popular threshold of 10 000 steps per day and performing steps at higher intensity may be associated with lower risk of dementia onset.
Abstract
Importance
Step-based recommendations may be appropriate for dementia-prevention guidelines. However, the association of step count and intensity with dementia incidence is unknown.
Objective
To examine the dose-response association between daily step count and intensity and incidence of all-cause dementia among adults in the UK.
Design, Setting, and Participants
UK Biobank prospective population-based cohort study (February 2013 to December 2015) with 6.9 years of follow-up (data analysis conducted May 2022). A total of 78 430 of 103 684 eligible adults aged 40 to 79 years with valid wrist accelerometer data were included. Registry-based dementia was ascertained through October 2021.
Exposures
Accelerometer-derived daily step count, incidental steps (less than 40 steps per minute), purposeful steps (40 steps per minute or more), and peak 30-minute cadence (ie, mean steps per minute recorded for the 30 highest, not necessarily consecutive, minutes in a day).
Main Outcomes and Measures
Incident dementia (fatal and nonfatal), obtained through linkage with inpatient hospitalisation or primary care records or recorded as the underlying or contributory cause of death in death registers. Spline Cox regressions were used to assess dose-response associations.
Results
The study monitored 78 430 adults (mean [SD] age, 61.1 [7.9] years; 35 040 [44.7%] male and 43 390 [55.3%] female; 881 [1.1%] were Asian, 641 [0.8%] were black, 427 [0.5%] were of mixed race, 75 852 [96.7%] were White, and 629 [0.8%] were of another, unspecified race) over a median (IQR) follow-up of 6.9 (6.4-7.5) years, 866 of whom developed dementia (mean [SD] age, 68.3 [5.6] years; 480 [55.4%] male and 386 [54.6%] female; 5 [0.6%] Asian, 6 [0.7%] Black, 4 [0.4%] mixed race, 821 [97.6%] white, and 6 [0.7%] other). Analyses revealed nonlinear associations between daily steps. The optimal dose (ie, exposure value at which the maximum risk reduction was observed) was 9826 steps (hazard ratio [HR], 0.49; 95% CI, 0.39-0.62) and the minimal dose (ie, exposure value at which the risk reduction was 50% of the observed maximum risk reduction) was 3826 steps (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.67-0.83). The incidental cadence optimal dose was 3677 steps (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.44-0.72); purposeful cadence optimal dose was 6315 steps (HR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.32-0.58); and peak 30-minute cadence optimal dose was 112 steps per minute (HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.24-0.60).
Conclusions and Relevance
In this cohort study, a higher number of steps was associated with lower risk of all-cause dementia. The findings suggest that a dose of just under 10 000 steps per day may be optimally associated with a lower risk of dementia. Steps performed at higher intensity resulted in stronger associations.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Optimal number of daily steps to reduce all-cause mortality varies by age – Meta-analysis
Daily steps in middle age significantly affect all-cause mortality — CARDIA study
Higher daily step counts strongly associated with lower mortality risk