Increasing your daily step count to between 9,000 and 10,000 can reduce your risk of death and cardiovascular disease by up to 39% and 21%, respectively, a study using data from UK Biobank has found. These benefits are also noticeable for people with sedentary lifestyles, with significant improvements seen at 4,000 to 4,500 steps per day. Credit: SciTechDaily.com

Increasing the number of steps you take each day reduces your risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease, regardless of how long you sit.

Every extra step you take, up to about 10,000 steps per day, reduces mortality and mortality rates. cardiovascular disease Results from a large population-based study published online show that regardless of the length of time spent inactive, (CVD) British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Some previous studies have shown that higher steps per day are associated with lower levels of death and CVD, while higher levels of sedentary behavior are associated with an increased risk of CVD and death. There are also studies that show that it is related. However, none of these studies investigated whether high levels of physical activity may offset or reduce the high risk of death and cardiovascular disease associated with sedentary time.

research method

To address this, the authors of this new study University of Sydney/ The Charles Perkins Center enrolled 72,174 people (mean age 61 years, 58% female) enrolled in the UK Biobank Study, a major biomedical database, who wore an accelerometer device on their wrist for 7 days to measure physical activity. data was accessed.

Accelerometer data was used to estimate daily steps and sedentary behavior, or time spent sitting or lying down during waking hours.

Participants’ median daily step count was 6,222 steps/day, and 2,200 steps/day (minimum 5% of daily steps among all participants) was associated with an increase in step count’s impact on mortality and CVD events. was adopted as a reference point for evaluating.

The median time spent sitting was 10.6 hours/day, so study participants who sat for more than 10.5 hours per day were considered sedentary, whereas those who sat for less than 10.5 hours per day Participants were expected to spend less time sedentary.

Findings and implications

Over a mean follow-up of 6.9 years, there were 1,633 deaths and 6,190 CVD events.

After considering other potentially influencing factors, the authors found that the optimal daily step count for combating sedentary time is between 9,000 and 10,000 steps/day, which They calculated a 39% reduction in the risk of death and a 21% reduction in the risk of developing CVD.

In both cases, 50% of the benefits were achieved between 4000 and 4500 steps per day.

This is an observational study and cannot prove cause and effect. Additionally, although the large sample size and long follow-up reduced the risk of bias, the authors acknowledge that other unmeasured factors may have influenced the results. The researchers added that step counts and sedentary time were obtained at a single point in time, which could also lead to bias.

Nevertheless, they concluded that “daily steps greater than 2,200 steps per day were associated with lower mortality and lower risk of developing CVD, regardless of whether sedentary time was short or high.” Masu.

“Increasing step count by 9,000 to 10,000 steps per day optimally reduced the risk of mortality and developing CVD in sedentary participants. The lowest threshold associated with significant reductions in mortality and CVD risk was between 4,000 and 4,500 steps per day.

They further state that “our future results have relevant implications that can be used to strengthen public health messages and inform first-generation guidelines for device-based physical activity and sedentary behavior.” We will provide you with our findings, which may include specific recommendations for daily walking,” it added.

Reference: “Does the association between daily step count and mortality and cardiovascular disease incidence vary by level of sedentary time? A device-based cohort study”, Matthew N Ahmadi, Leandro FM Rezende, Gerson Ferrari, Borja Del Pozo Cruz, I-Min Lee, Emmanuel Stamatakis, March 5, 2024; British Journal of Sports Medicine.
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2023-107221

The research was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the National Heart Foundation.