Think Daily Walking Is Enough? How to Walk to Cut Mortality Risk by 40%... The Healthiest Way to Walk

US Research Team Observes Older Women for 11 Years
"More Steps Mean Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Death"
"Walking 4,000 Steps Three Times a Week Reduces Mortality Risk by 40%"

A new study has found that the total amount of walking is more important for health than how often one walks. In particular, for older women, walking more than 4,000 steps a day for just three days a week was shown to reduce the risk of death by nearly 40%.

On October 22, a research team led by Dr. Rikuta Hamaya at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, announced through the British Journal of Sports Medicine that they observed this result in a study tracking the relationship between daily step count and the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality among over 13,000 older women.

"Just 4,000 Steps a Day Lowers Mortality Risk by 40%"

Image to aid understanding of the article. Pixabay

The research team stated, "For older women, even walking more than 4,000 steps a day just once or twice a week reduced the risk of death and cardiovascular disease, and the effect was greater with a higher step count." They added, "Regardless of walking patterns, the more steps taken per day, the greater the health benefits." While many studies have confirmed that active physical activity is important for increasing healthy life expectancy, the team emphasized that it is also important to know how much physical activity is needed as people age and what the minimum level of activity required for health is.

In this study, the team tracked the relationship between daily step count and the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality over an average of 11 years in 13,547 women (average age 71.8 years) with no history of cardiovascular disease or cancer. Participants wore accelerometers to measure their steps for seven days between 2011 and 2015. By 2024, 1,765 participants (13%) had died and 781 (5%) had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.

"Total Steps Matter More Than Frequency for Older Adults' Health"

The analysis showed that the group who walked more than 4,000 steps a day for at least three days a week had a 40% lower overall mortality risk compared to those who did not walk that much on any day, while the group who did so for one or two days had a 26% lower risk. The risk of death from cardiovascular disease was also 27% lower in both the one-to-two day group and the three-or-more day group, compared to those who never walked more than 4,000 steps a day. Furthermore, those who averaged more than 5,000 steps per day had around a 30% lower mortality risk, and those with 6,000 to 7,000 steps or more saw a 32-40% reduction, indicating that higher step counts were associated with a gradual decrease in mortality risk.

The research team commented, "This study shows that even walking more than 4,000 steps a day just once or twice a week reduces the risk of death and cardiovascular disease," adding, "This suggests that the total number of steps is more important for the health of older adults than walking frequency." They continued, "The practical meaning of these results is that there is no single best walking pattern; rather, the total amount of walking is the key factor for health. Whether you walk steadily every day or accumulate your steps at once, engaging in physical activity in a way that suits you can help lower the risk of death and cardiovascular disease."