Here’s the number of steps needed to live longer

THE optimum number of daily steps needed to help live longer has been calculated by scientists.

With fitbits and mobile phones now carrying step sensors, more and more people are keeping an eye on how many steps a day they are doing.

Number crunchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Anerica, looked at data from 15 studies involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents.

They said the oft-repeated 10,000-steps-a-day mantra grew out of a decades-old marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer, with no science to back up the impact. So they set out to find what the right number of steps really is.

Physical activity epidemiologist Assistant Professor Amanda Paluch said the results, published in the journal Lancet Public Health, showed that taking more steps a day helps lower the risk of premature death.

In the over-60s the risk of premature death levelled off at about 6,000-8,000 steps per day, with more steps having no added benefit.

For the under-60s the optimum number was 8,000-10,000 steps per day.

She said: “What we saw was this incremental reduction in risk as steps increase, until it levels off and the levelling occurred at different step values for older versus younger adults.

“Interestingly, the research found no definitive association with walking speed, beyond the total number of steps per day.”

The research supports and expands findings from another study published last September in JAMA Network Open, which found that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people’s risk of premature death.

Prof Paluch added: “The major takeaway is there’s a lot of evidence suggesting moving even a little more is beneficial, particularly for those who are doing very little activity. More steps per day are better for your health.”