Walking 8,000 steps once or twice a week reduces mortality risk
|Walking 8,000 steps, or nearly 6.4 km, once or twice a week significantly reduces the risk of early death, according to a study published on Tuesday.
If known that practicing regular physical activity reduces the risk of death, the study published in the journal JAMA Network Open looks at the health benefits of vigorous walking only a few days a week.
Researchers from Kyoto University and the University of California, Los Angeles analyzed data from 3,101 American adults.
They found that those who walked 8,000 steps or more, once or twice a week, were 14.9% less likely to die over a 10-year period than those who did not reach that milestone.
< p> For those who took these long walks three to seven times a week, the risk of death fell even further, by 16.5%.
The health benefits of these 8,000-step hikes or more, once or twice a week, seems even more pronounced for people aged 65 and over.
“The number of days per week that someone walks 8,000 steps or more was associated (in the study) with a lower risk of cardiovascular mortality and all other causes,” according to the scientists.
“This work suggests that individuals can obtain significant health benefits from walking only a few days a week,” they continue.
For this study, the researchers studied the daily steps identified by participants between 2005 and 2006 and then studied their mortality ten years later.
Of the participants, 632 people failed to reach the 8,000 step limit on at least one day per week; 532 people reached or exceeded them once or twice a week; and 1,937 people walked three to seven times a week.
On average, Americans walk 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day, according to data from the Mayo Clinic, which states that walking as a regular physical activity can reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression.