10,000 steps
Is it really beneficial for us to do all those 10,000 steps daily or is it just the hype promoted by all those fitness tracker manufacturers?
In a study published on JAMA Neurology and JAMA Internal Medicine, both monthly medical journals, there is actually something special about those 10,000 steps as according to research, it actually reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, some types of cancers and dementia.
Depending on our individual strides, 10,000 steps brings us to between 6 to 8 kilometers. The study says we don’t have to get to 10,000 steps to get benefits. For example, it suggests that 9,800 steps a day lowers the risk of dementia by 50 percent. Taking 4,000 steps daily lowers it by 25 percent. For every 2,000 steps, premature deaths can be lowered to as much as 11 percent.
The study involved 78,500 mostly female middle aged or older participants (40 to 79 years old) from England, Wales and Scotland who were invited thru e-mail for an accelerometer study from February 2013 to December 2015.
Devices were then attached on their dominant wrists for 24 hours for 7 days that measures physical activity and whose health were monitored for a median of seven years. Datas were gathered and analysed on March 2022.
The results on the study had prompted several health and fitness practitioners to promote for increased daily steps to prevent chronic ailments. However, researchers say that evidence to support 10,000 daily steps for better health is still minimal. Additional comprehensive datas are needed for step-based health benefits.
These findings could be used to motivate inactive people and the more active ones to reach 10,000 daily steps. Higher intensity or walking at a faster pace, increases the benefits and could lower the incidence of diseases. Just watch where you’re going.
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