Research shows that even if you spend most of your day sitting, walking just 2,200 steps a day can reduce your risk of heart disease and early death.

Until now, it was unclear whether moderate amounts of walking could offset the effects of sitting most of the day.

Experts have previously found that people who spend most of their waking hours sitting, such as sitting at a desk or watching TV, are more likely to develop heart disease and die early. are doing.

However, a new study has been published. British Journal of Sports Medicinewe found that these risks were reduced for every step taken above 2,200 steps per day (approximately 1 mile), regardless of how much of the rest of the time was spent sitting.

Benefits were observed up to 10,000 steps per day, and the benefits increased as the number of steps increased.

Those who walked between 9,000 and 10,500 steps per day had the lowest risk of premature death. When it came to avoiding strokes and heart attacks, people who walked about 9,700 steps a day had the lowest risk.

For the study, experts led by the University of Sydney used UK Biobank data from 72,174 people aged around 61. All participants wore accelerometers on their wrists for seven days to measure their physical activity levels.

Over nearly seven years of follow-up, 1,633 deaths and 6,190 cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes were recorded.

Overall, walking 9,000 to 10,500 steps per day reduces your risk of premature death by 39% and your risk of heart attack or stroke by 21%. In both cases, 50% of the benefits were achieved at 4,000 to 4,500 steps per day.

The second study Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, found that even low levels of exercise can reduce the risk of stroke. Researchers from Imperial College London NHS Healthcare Trust said: “People should be encouraged to engage in physical activity, even at the lowest levels.”

Commenting on the study, Julie Ward, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said:

“These encouraging new studies show that every step you take towards achieving 10,000 steps a day can lead to a reduced risk of death and heart disease. Even at low activity levels, you can reduce your risk of stroke. You can reduce your risk.

“For your heart and circulatory health, we recommend staying active with 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.

“This means making changes to your lifestyle such as taking regular walking breaks from your computer screen, going to the gym, enjoying an exercise class, or even getting off the bus one stop short to take more steps. You can mix it up with any activity, so visit our website for information on staying active, or talk to your doctor about what level of exercise is right for you.”

Matt Lambert, health information and promotion manager at the World Cancer Research Fund, said the study shows that “the more active we are, the less we reduce our risk of common diseases such as cancer and heart disease.” said that it showed.

He added: “What’s particularly encouraging about this study is that for people with busy lives where 10,000 steps is not readily available, there are significant health benefits for those who walk 4,000 to 5,000 steps a day. It means that it was seen,” he added.