Can 7G steps a day keep doctor away?
UMass prof says it can reduce risk of premature death
The often-mentioned goal of walking 10,000 steps a day may actually not be necessary after all.
A UMass Amherst physical activity epidemiologist has found that 7,000 steps per day could be the new target for middle-aged people.
UMass Amherst assistant professor Amanda Paluch has been researching how many steps people should take each day. She recently determined that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people’s risk of premature death from all causes by 50% to 70% — compared to that of other middle-aged people who took fewer daily steps.
Walking more than 10,000 steps per day — or walking faster — did not further reduce the risk, according to Paluch who published the findings in JAMA Network Open.
“You see this gradual risk reduction in mortality as you get more steps,” Paluch said. “There were substantial health benefits between 7,000 and 10,000 steps, but we didn’t see an additional benefit from going beyond 10,000 steps.”
The oft-advised 10,000 steps a day is not a scientifically established guideline, said Paluch, an assistant professor of kinesiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences.
That 10,000 recommendation emerged as part of a decades-old marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer, she added.
Paluch and her colleagues wanted to determine how many steps per day are needed for health benefits.
“That would be great to know for a public health message or for clinician-patient communication,” she said.
The researchers looked at data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, which began in 1985 and is still ongoing.
More than 2,000 participants between ages 38 and 50 wore an accelerometer in 2005 or 2006. They were followed for about 11 years after that, and the resulting data was analyzed in the last couple of years.
The participants were separated into three comparison groups: low-step volume (under 7,000 steps per day), moderate (between 7,000 and 9,999) and high (more than 10,000).
“For people at 4,000 steps, getting to 5,000 is meaningful,” Paluch said.
“And from 5,000 to 6,000 steps, there is an incremental risk reduction in all-cause mortality up to about 10,000 steps.”
This study involved middle-aged people, while most step studies have been focused on older adults. The findings can begin to suggest ways to keep people healthier longer and to avoid premature death, she said.
“Preventing those deaths before average life expectancy — that is a big deal,” Paluch said. “Showing that steps per day could be associated with premature mortality is a new contribution to the field.”