;Resize=(1200,627)&impolicy=perceptual&quality=mediumHigh&hash=20d80ebc69ff733c1709d876a9d14bea8c0696a3a64cc79869506da2613833bb "How many steps a day keep you fit? Study provides new answer")
At first it was always said that 10,000 steps a day were mandatory. Then again, as early as 2000 reduced the risk of many diseases. “The optimal number of steps and their role in health is still unclear,” international researchers write in a new study. Therefore, the team has made it its task to determine exactly these. It published its results in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
In their analysis, the scientists considered 17 studies with a total of over 200,000 participants. They observed how their health changed over the course of seven years. They correlated the daily number of steps with mortality, i.e. the risk of dying from certain causes.
Almost 4000 steps reduce mortality
In doing so, they found:
3967 steps a day reduced that mortality risk from various diseases.
2337 steps a day reduced that mortality risk as a result of cardiovascular diseases.
This puts the number of steps well below the “golden” 10,000. However, the researchers also emphasize:
Any further 1000 steps reduced the mortality by another 15 percent. Any further 500 steps reduced the mortality as a result of cardiovascular diseases by more seven percent.
The more you run, the better
The study is the first to examine the effects of walking up to 20,000 steps a day. This confirmed that the health benefits do indeed increase with increasing step count.
“Our study confirms that the more you run, the better,” quotes the “Guardian” study leader Maciej Banach. We’ve found this to be true for both men and women, regardless of age, and regardless of whether you live in a temperate, subtropical, or subpolar climate.
Steps can also help against dementia
As other studies may have shown before, exercise also helps to prevent dementia.
People who “only” 3800 steps were able to reduce their risk of dementia by a quarter compared to the comparison group. However, the team was able to achieve even greater successes 9800 steps measure: those who did this every day halved their risk of dementia compared to the control group.
If “optimal number of steps” was by the way 9826 measured. And: According to the study, anyone who walks briskly – with 112 steps per minute within 30 minutes – reduces their risk of developing dementia by two thirds. It doesn’t matter whether the steps are taken in one go or collected over the course of a day.