A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has revealed that taking up to 10,000 steps per day can significantly reduce the risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle. The study, which involved over 72,000 participants, found that every additional step up to 10,000 steps per day was linked to a 39 percent reduced risk of death and a 21 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, regardless of how much time was spent being sedentary.
Dr Matthew Ahmadi, the lead author and research fellow, emphasized that increasing daily step count is not a free pass for individuals with excessive sedentary time. However, it does send a crucial health message that all movement matters and people should try to offset the health consequences of prolonged sedentary time by increasing their daily step count.
The study used data from the UK Biobank study, which involved 72,174 individuals who wore wrist-worn accelerometers for seven days to measure their physical activity. The researchers then followed the health trajectory of the participants by linking hospitalization data and death records.
Over an average 6.9 years of follow-up, the study found that the optimal number of steps per day to counteract high sedentary time was between 9000 to 10000 steps/day, thereby lowering mortality risk by 39 percent and incident cardiovascular disease risk by 21 percent. The authors noted that 50 percent of the benefit was achieved at between 4000 and 4500 steps per day.
It’s important to acknowledge that this study is observational and cannot establish direct cause and effect. However, despite its limitations, the study provides valuable insights into the potential benefits of increasing daily step count to combat the risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle.
The findings of this study have significant implications for public health. Increasing daily step count is a straightforward and easily understood measure of physical activity that can help individuals and health professionals accurately monitor physical activity. These insights could inform the first generation of physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines.
In conclusion, the evidence from this study suggests that any amount of daily steps above 2200 steps/day is associated with lower mortality and incident cardiovascular disease risk, for both low and high sedentary time. Accruing between 9000 and 10,000 steps a day was found to optimally lower the risk of mortality and incident cardiovascular disease among highly sedentary participants. This study was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant and National Heart Foundation Fellowship.
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