Walking just 4,000 steps a day has been revealed to potentially reduce the risk of mortality from any cause, according to the most extensive analysis conducted so far. However, the health benefits only increase as you walk more, highlighting the importance of physical activity in our daily lives.
The concept that a sedentary lifestyle is linked to poorer health is now widely acknowledged. However, until now, the optimal number of steps individuals should aim for and whether there’s a point of diminishing returns has remained uncertain.
To delve into this, a team of researchers led by Professor Maciej Banach, a cardiology expert at the Medical University of Lodz in Poland, reviewed data from 17 previous studies involving 226,889 participants. These individuals were followed for an average of seven years to evaluate the health impact of different daily step counts.
Their findings, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, suggested that taking at least 3,967 steps per day could start reducing the risk of all-cause mortality, while 2,337 steps a day lowered the risk of death due to cardiovascular diseases.
Beyond these thresholds, each additional 1,000 steps per day correlated with a 15% reduction in the risk of dying from any cause, and a 7% decrease in cardiovascular disease-related mortality for every 500 extra steps.
Professor Banach stated, “Our study confirms that the more you walk, the better. We found that this applied to both men and women, irrespective of age, and irrespective of whether you live in a temperate, subtropical or subpolar region of the world, or a region with a mixture of climates.”
Interestingly, the research highlighted different optimal ranges for varying age groups. Those between 7,000 and 13,000 steps a day saw the most significant health improvements among younger age groups, while individuals aged 60 and over benefited most from taking between 6,000 and 10,000 steps.
Moreover, the researchers explored the impact of walking up to 20,000 steps daily – equivalent to around 9 to 10 miles – and observed that the health advantages continued to rise. They emphasized that no diminishing returns were evident for any group investigated. However, they cautioned that more data was needed for such high levels of physical activity.
“In a world where we have more and more advanced drugs to target specific conditions such as cardiovascular disease, I believe we should always emphasize that lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, might be at least as – or even more – effective in reducing cardiovascular risk and prolonging lives,” Professor Banach asserted.
Insufficient physical activity is now the fourth leading cause of death globally, accounting for 3.2 million deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization. While the worldwide average daily step count stood at around 5,324 before the Covid-19 pandemic, reduced physical activity levels persist even two years later, as the pandemic disrupted routines.
Professor James Leiper, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, emphasized the remarkable benefits of walking for health. He likened the effects of walking to those of a wonder drug, highlighting its accessibility and the absence of special equipment or training requirements.
This research underscores the significance of incorporating physical activity, such as walking, into our daily lives for improved overall health and well-being.
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