UNITED STATES: A study of over 226,000 individuals found that walking 4,000 steps lowered the risk of premature death from any cause. The heart and blood arteries can benefit from a little over 2,300 steps.
The study show that walking has health advantages for people of all gender and ages, with every additional 1,000 steps beyond the recommended 4,000 steps lowering the chance of dying young by 15%.
Impact of walking on human health
The team from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Medical University of Lodz in Poland discovered that walking had advantages for people of all genders and ages.
Under 60 years old have the greatest advantages in reducing cardiovascular risk and lengthening lives.
Those older persons who walked between 6,000 and 10,000 steps per day saw a 42% reduction in risk, whereas younger individuals who walked between 7,000 and 13,000 steps per day saw a 49% reduction in risk.
Prof. Maciej Banach of Lodz University emphasizes that lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, may be effective in reducing risk and prolonging lives.
While the number of advanced pharmaceuticals for therapy is increasing, lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, should always be considered, Maciej added.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that insufficient exercise is the fourth leading cause of mortality, causing 3.2 million fatalities annually.
The meta-analysis’s size and the fact that it wasn’t confined to looking at studies with a daily step restriction of no more than 16,000 are both strengths. The observational nature of the study, along with the fact that it was only able to show an association rather than causation, are some of its limitations.
Since everyone who participated in the trials under consideration was in generally good condition when they began, the effect of step counts on people with various disorders was not examined.
The researchers were unable to take into account variations in racial and socioeconomic status, and the approaches used to quantify steps varied throughout the studies that made up this meta-analysis.
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