Do you really need to take 10,000 steps a day to stay in good health? Although several studies have shown that you can likely stay healthy taking half as many steps, a new report finds 10,000 is still a good goal for certain people. Specifically, those who sit all day long.
A comprehensive study involving more than 72,000 individuals has unveiled that increasing daily step counts could reverse the adverse health effects associated with prolonged sitting.
Researchers from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Center reveal a compelling link between higher daily step counts and lower risk levels of mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Specifically, each additional step taken towards the 10,000 step-a-day mark correlated with a 39-percent reduction in death risk and a 21-percent decrease in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, irrespective of how much time was spent being sedentary.
This research stands out as it combines the observation of the benefits of higher daily steps with an objective analysis of sedentary behavior’s risks through the use of wrist-worn accelerometers. These devices provided a reliable measurement of the participants’ physical activity and sedentary time, setting this study apart from previous inquiries into the subject.
“This is by no means a get out of jail card for people who are sedentary for excessive periods of time, however, it does hold an important public health message that all movement matters and that people can and should try to offset the health consequences of unavoidable sedentary time by upping their daily step count,” says study lead author Dr. Matthew Ahmadi, a research fellow at University of Sydney, in a university release.
Highlighting the implications of this study for public health, researchers emphasized the value of step count as a clear and easily measurable physical activity metric.
“Step count is a tangible and easily understood measure of physical activity that can help people in the community, and indeed health professionals, accurately monitor physical activity,” notes study senior author Emmanuel Stamatakis, professor and director of the Mackenzie Wearables Research Hub at the Charles Perkins Center. “We hope this evidence will inform the first generation of device-based physical activity and sedentary behavior guidelines, which should include key recommendations on daily stepping.”