The 10,000-step-a-day rule isn't the only one linked to better health outcomes. A study of 13,547 older women found that getting at least 4,000 steps a day on one or two days a week was linked to a 26 percent lower risk of death from any cause and a 27 percent lower risk of heart disease.
The participants were an average of 71.8 years old and free of heart disease or cancer at the start of the study. They wore the trackers for seven consecutive days and were then followed for an average of 10.9 years. During that period, 1,765 women, or 13 percent of the group, died, and 781, or 5.1 percent, developed cardiovascular disease.
More steps linked to lower risk
Women who reached at least 4,000 steps on three or more days a week had a 40 percent lower risk of death compared to participants who did not reach this threshold. Their risk of cardiovascular disease was 27 percent lower.
Additional exercise was also associated with a benefit, but the effect was more modest. At 5,000 to 7,000 steps per day, the risk of death was 32 percent lower, while the difference in cardiovascular disease leveled off at about 16 percent at the highest threshold considered.
“The number of steps per day, not the frequency of days per week that a certain threshold is reached, is important for reducing the risk of death and cardiovascular disease,” the authors say.Study does not prove cause and effect
The conclusion is not that exactly 4,000 steps prevent disease. The study is observational and shows a link between movement and health outcomes, but it does not prove that walking itself is the cause of the lower risk. The analysis specifically included older women without cancer or cardiovascular disease at baseline, so the results may not automatically apply to all age groups or men.
When the researchers also took into account the average number of daily steps, the associations between the number of days and risk were reduced to zero. This supports the conclusion that the total amount of movement is more important than whether the steps are accumulated every day or over a limited number of days.
The study is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The authors suggest that future physical activity guidelines for older women should consider at least 4,000 steps per day on one or two days a week as a possible minimum, rather than setting a single fixed target of 10,000 steps per day.
Sources: The Independent