The most common number that comes to mind when it comes to walking is 10,000. This number has long been touted as the benchmark to achieve in terms of the number of daily steps required to enhance our health.
There is data to support it as well. More daily steps are associated with a lower chance of dying young, according to several studies published in recent years, regardless of how those steps are taken.
It’s important to stay active as we get older, but our daily step goals should also be something we can do.
A new study presented today found that walking an extra 500 steps, or about a quarter of a mile, every day was linked to a 14% lower risk of heart disease, stroke, or heart failure.
According to lead author Erin E. Dooley, measuring physical activity using steps is a straightforward method, and a higher number of daily steps is linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease-related events in older adults. However, studies have mainly concentrated on younger to middle-aged adults who aim for 10,000 or more daily steps, which may not be realistic for older individuals.
The people who took part in this study were part of a larger group of 15,792 adults who were originally recruited for the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, which is still going on.
In order to determine if there may be a link between daily step counts and cardiovascular disease, the current research examined health information gathered from ARIC study visit 6 (2016–17).
Researchers examined the health records of 452 individuals who wore pedometer-like accelerometer devices at the hip to track their daily steps.
Participants had a mean age of 78, 59% were female, and 20% were adults who identified as being of African descent (70% of whom were female and 30% were male).
The average daily step count was around 3,500 and the devices were worn for at least three days and at least 10 hours.
During the 3.5 years of follow-up, 7.5% of the people who took part had a cardiovascular disease event like coronary heart disease, a stroke, or heart failure.
The research revealed:
Those who averaged 4,500 steps per day had a 77% decreased observed risk of having a cardiovascular incident than people who walked less than 2,000 steps per day.
Compared to 3.5% of participants who walked around 4,500 steps per day, over 12% of older individuals who took less than 2,000 steps per day had a cardiovascular incident.
Every 500 steps more that people took every day was linked to a 14% lower risk of heart disease.
“We were surprised to find that every additional quarter of a mile, or 500 steps, of walking, had such a strong benefit to heart health,” Dooley adds.
“While we do not want to diminish the importance of higher intensity physical activity, encouraging small increases in the number of daily steps also has significant cardiovascular benefits.
“If you are an older adult over the age of 70, start with trying to get 500 more steps per day.”
More research is needed to find out if taking more steps each day prevents or delays cardiovascular disease or if lower step counts may be a sign of an underlying disease.
There were several limitations to the research. Participants were required to join in the accelerometer device research, and hip-worn accelerometers are restricted in their ability to capture other physical patterns that may be essential to heart health, such as biking and swimming.
As compared to the entire ARIC population, research participants were more likely to have at least some college or higher education, and they largely self-identified as white and female, which may restrict the study’s generalizability.
Also, since steps were only counted once, the researchers were unable to determine if variations in steps over time affected the risk of CVD events.
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