Even 4,000 Steps a Day Can Have Major Health Benefits Dani Blum - The New York Times
go to original October 21, 2023

Exercise scientists long ago debunked the notion that you need to hit 10,000 steps each day to stay healthy and live longer. Even a little movement is good, they argue, though more is better. Now, a new study underscores that people can reap significant benefits from a comparatively small number of daily steps.

Researchers analyzed 17 studies that looked at how many steps people took, typically in a weeklong period, and followed up on their health outcomes after around seven years. They concluded that a habit of walking just under 4,000 steps per day reduced the risk of dying from any cause, including from cardiovascular disease.

That translates into a 30- to 45-minute walk, or roughly two miles, although it varies from person to person, said Dr. Seth Shay Martin, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine and an author of the study. But the more steps you take, the better off you are: Mortality risk decreased by 15 percent with every additional 1,000 steps participants took.

“It’s the best medicine we can recommend: Just going out for a walk,” said Dr. Randal Thomas, a preventive cardiology specialist at the Mayo Clinic who was not involved with the study.

The study could not definitively prove whether the steps themselves decreased the risk of developing diseases and dying, or if people who tend to be healthier anyway also get more steps in throughout the day. And because the researchers combined data across studies to determine that 4,000-step target, it may not confer the same benefit for every person, said Jennifer Heisz, an associate professor at McMaster University and the author of “Move the Body, Heal the Mind,” who was not involved in the study.

“I wouldn’t want people to look at that as a magical number, that you must be above that exact step count,” Dr. Martin said. “It’s more so that more is better.”

Read the rest at The New York Times

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