Topline
A study published Tuesday found that walking 8,000 steps just one to two days a week could decrease peoples’ risk of death by 14.9%, but Americans — who take just under 5,000 steps a day on average — might still struggle to meet that goal.
Getting 8,000 steps one to two times per week could lower a person’s risk of death, study shows. … [+]
Key Facts
Scientists from Kyoto University and University of California at Los Angeles studied data from 3,101 U.S. adults between 2005 and 2016 and those who walked 8,000 steps one to two times a week were less likely to die than those who didn’t, according to the study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday.
People 65 years old and older were 19.9% less likely to die if they took 8,000 steps one to two times per week, while people under 65 years old saw a 7.4% reduction in risk of death.
The study found men who walked 8,000 steps one to two times per week lowered their risk of death slightly more (20.8% risk reduction) than women (11.6% reduction).
Walking 8,000 steps one to two times per week was associated with an 8.1% reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular problems.
Americans should get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, like walking, per day, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Some doctors recommend getting 10,000 steps per day, but studies have increasingly found that step goals should be tailored to a person’s age and fitness goals.
Americans walk an average of 4,800 steps per day, and a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of physical inactivity in America between 2017 and 2020 found over a fourth of each state’s population, on average, reported they hadn’t exercised in the past month outside of their job.
Physical and environmental barriers to exercise include lack of time or safe places to exercise like gyms and parks, bad weather, streets with no sidewalks and busy traffic and physical disabilities or pain, according to the CDC and Shelby E. Johnson, a sports medicine specialist from the Mayo Clinic.
Barriers to exercise can also be psychological—lack of motivation, feeling uncomfortable in the gym or unfamiliar with exercises or a lack of social support can also prevent people from exercising, says Johnson.
Big Number
3.2 million. That’s how many global deaths each year are caused in part due to a lack of physical activity, according to estimates from the World Health Organization.Lack of physical activity is also tied to an estimated $54 billion in healthcare costs annually, according to a 2016 study published in The Lancet.
Key Background
Doctors typically recommend people get 10,000 steps per day, but that target has been shifting. A meta-analysis of 15 studies between 1999 and 2018 published earlier this month found that people under 60 could decrease their risk of premature death by walking between 8,000 and 10,000 steps per day, while people over 60 could decrease their risk by walking between 6,000 and 8,000 steps per day.
Surprising Fact
The CDC reported that between 20% and 30% of the populations of 38 states were classified as physically inactive between 2017 and 2020 for reporting they hadn’t exercised outside of work in the past month. Less than 20% of the populations in Colorado, Utah, Washington and Vermont, were physically inactive, compared with the populations of West Virginia, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Labama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi, 30% of which were inactive.
Tangent (How To Overcome Barriers To Exercise)
Some barriers to exercise have relatively easy fixes—people pressed for time can get the benefits of a 30 minute workout by breaking it into three, ten minute workouts, according to Shelby E. Johnson, a sports medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic. Lack of motivation and accountability can be solved by creating an exercise schedule in advance or working out with friends, says Johnson, and those with muscle or joint pain can try exercises like swimming or walking, which put less stress on joints. Other barriers, like lack of facilities or safe spaces to be active in are harder to solve. Organizations like the CDC promote resources and strategies for communities to ensure every citizen has equal access to physical activity.
Further Reading
Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts (The Lancet)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywashburn/2023/03/28/daily-step-targets-for-americans-are-easier-than-ever-so-why-are-they-so-hard-to-hit/