Walking more could be the key to a healthier life, even if you spend a lot of time sitting down. A big study has found that taking more steps each day can lower your risk of dying early and getting heart disease.
The study, which included over 72,000 people, used special wrist devices to track how much they moved every day.
The magic number of steps seems to be between 9,000 and 10,000 a day to significantly reduce the risks of death and heart disease, especially for those who sit a lot. Even half of this benefit can be gained by walking as few as 4,000 to 4,500 steps daily.
This research looked into how walking might balance out the negative effects of sitting for too long.
Previous studies have shown that moving more means a lower risk of death and heart problems, while sitting too much can increase these risks. But, until now, no one had explored if being very active could make up for the time spent sitting.
Participants in the study, who were mostly in their 60s and slightly more women than men, wore an activity tracker for a week.
This device counted their steps and how much time they spent sitting or lying down while awake. On average, people took about 6,222 steps a day and were sedentary for about 10.6 hours.
Over almost seven years of following these people, the study found that those who walked more were less likely to die or have heart disease, regardless of how long they sat each day.
However, the researchers remind us that this is an observational study, meaning it can’t prove walking directly causes these health benefits.
There could be other factors at play that weren’t measured. Plus, the study only checked people’s walking and sitting habits at one point in time, which could affect the results.
Despite these limitations, the findings suggest a clear message: taking more steps each day can be a simple and effective way to improve your health.
It provides practical advice for public health strategies and could help shape guidelines on physical activity and sitting time. So, if you’re looking to boost your health, aiming for more daily steps could be a great start.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and calcium supplements could harm your heart health.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that blackcurrants can reduce blood sugar after meal and results showing how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer.
The research findings can be found in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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