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Are you stunned by the concept of 10,000 steps? Don’t worry, a new study found that 7,000 could be sufficient for many important health benefits.
From cancer to heart disease, increasing the number of steps more than 2,000 per day improves the risk of many chronic diseases.
In the study, “Even modest steps, such as 4,000 steps, offer health benefits compared to very low levels of activity,” Dr. Melody Ding, a professor of public health at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, tells Today.com. “If possible, targeting around 7,000 steps per day could significantly reduce the risk of many chronic diseases and adverse health outcomes.”
While taking more than 7,000 steps may have benefits, Ding adds, “it slows down the improvement rate.” “Even so, if you’re already very active and consistently hitting 10,000 plus steps, just keep it. There’s no reason to cut it.”
Din and her colleagues hope that the lower goals will help motivate couch potatoes to dazzle with 10,000 goals.
For a comprehensive new study, researchers looked into medical journals for studies that documented actual measurements of steps taken by participants. The researchers discovered 31 studies that were similar enough to allow 160,000 participants to combine underlying data in a meta-analysis.
A meta-analysis revealed that 7,000 are associated with: compared to 2,000 steps per day:
47%Risk of death due to causes Low risk of cardiovascular disease 25%Low Low risk of cancer Low risk of death Type 2 diabetes 14%Low low risk of dementia 22%Low low risk of depressive symptoms 28%Low low risk of falls
Additionally, Ding said, “Stepping doesn’t have to happen at once or require intentional exercise. Daily movements contribute to health by increasing the number of small accidental matches throughout the day, such as stopping the bus early or choosing stairs on the elevator.”
Experts hope that new research will drive some couch potatoes.
“I think it’s easier for people to try 7,000 steps than 10,000 steps,” Dr. Paul Leis, cardiologist at Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Heart Hospital, tells Today.com.
For some people, “I felt that it wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t doing 10,000,” Ray adds. “(But) there’s nothing magical about 10,000 or 8,000.”
The study also showed that increasing from 2,000 steps to 4,000 a day significantly improved the risk of chronic disease. In fact, it was more important than increasing from 7,000 to 10,000.
This new study is perhaps one of the most definitive answers to the number of steps required, says Keith Diaz, an associate professor of behavioral medicine at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University.
“They elicited all the studies that measured steps in a critical way to get a threshold based on some information,” he tells Today.com. “The 10,000 steps were made up of marketing.”
“There’s an important message there,” Diaz explained, adding that there is some variation in the exact number of steps required to get the greatest benefit of a particular illness, but that 7,000 most work.
The study provides a clear message that “and emphasizes the importance of additional steps.” “The good news is that people who can’t have 10,000 or 7,000 or even 4,000 can lower the risk.”
This story first appeared on Today.com. More from today:
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