A new study published last Tuesday by the British Journal of Sports Medicine confirms this: taking between 9,000 and 10,000 steps a day can help reduce the risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases by up to 21% and the risk of dying prematurely by 39%. .
The idea that taking a certain number of steps a day was healthy did not have much legitimacy because it lacked scientific foundations. In fact, it is believed to come from a marketing campaign to promote Japanese step counting devices.
Following in the footsteps of 72,000 people
The authors analyzed data from more than 72,000 people registered in the UK Biobank database, which provides access to the health outcomes of more than half a million Britons aged 40 to 69 for at least 10 years.
The recent study followed participants for a week with activity trackers on their wrists, which allowed them to know how many steps they took per day and also the time they spent in sedentary mode, that is, awake, but lying or sitting.
9,000 and 10,000 steps is the optimal number
In a period of 7 years, 1,633 people died and 6,190 episodes related to cardiovascular diseases occurred. After adjusting for other factors linked to illness or death, such as diet, smoking or exercise, the researchers set the optimal number of steps to reduce risk to be between 9,000 and 10,000 steps per day.
According to the data provided, the average time spent sedentary was 10.6 hours per day, so the authors classified 10.5 hours or more as “high sedentary time,” while less than that figure was considered “high sedentary time.” “low sedentary lifestyle”.
For sedentary people, taking more than 2,200 steps a day implied a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease or dying prematurely. However, those who reached between 9,000 and 10 steps obtained the greatest benefit.
Sedentary people can also benefit
The conclusions reached by the authors also apply to sedentary people. However, they caution that this is “absolutely not a get-out-of-jail-free card for people who are sedentary for excessive periods,” lead author Matthew Ahmadi says in a statement.
“However, it contains an important public health message: that all movement is important and that people can and should try to counteract the health consequences of inevitable sedentary lifestyle by increasing their number of daily steps,” adds Ahmadi, a postdoctoral researcher at the Charles Center. Perkins from the University of Sydney (Australia).
“This study contributes to taking a big step forward in improving the scientific knowledge on which the guidelines on physical activity and sedentary lifestyle are based. It seems to support the idea that the 10,000-step goal, originally without empirical basis, may actually be correct,” he tells New Scientist Dale Esliger of Loughborough University, who was not involved in the study.
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