YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT THAT ADULTS SHOULD AIM for 10,000 steps daily. This universal target sounds simple, but here’s the thing — we’re all different. Today, I’ll focus on walking away from sedentary risks.
Our lifestyles and bodies are not one-size-fits-all.
Nowadays, many of us have pretty inactive lifestyles, and we’ve learned that this can lead to a higher chance of heart problems, an increased risk of cancer and diabetes, and a shorter life.
“Queer, how I misinterpreted the designations of doom.” Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita.
Key Points
Many of my patients are relatively inactive. Software engineers sit all day long, and doctors are often in chairs while meeting patients.
Modern living often comes with sedentary behavior. I wonder if those of us who sit most of the day can undo health damage by moving.
But how many steps would it take? Or are we office workers destined to have a higher probability of suffering from a heart attack, stroke, and more?
The good news is that people taking more steps and walking faster tend to have lower chronic disease risks.
Study Design
A group of scientists from around the world discovered that even if you spend a lot of time sitting, you can protect yourself from health issues by adding more steps to your daily routine.
Perhaps I am not doomed after all.
Researchers examined information from 72,174 volunteers from the UK Biobank, a massive dataset started in 2006.
This dataset is set to monitor participants’ health measures for at least 30 years.
The study drew on an average of 6.9 years of overall health data for each participant.
Each subject wore wrist accelerometers for seven days to gauge their physical activity levels, including the number of steps taken and the duration of sitting.
More Study Details
The study authors considered subjects spending more than 10.6 hours a day sitting to have “high sedentary time.”
Those with fewer hours were labeled as having “low sedentary time.”
The analysis focused on those who were generally healthy during the study. I could discern if individuals with disabilities impacting step count were part of the data.
Study Results
Here are the provocative results:
Taking between 9,000 and 10,000 steps daily was the sweet spot to counteract the negative effects of prolonged sitting.
This walking volume led to about a one-fifth (21 percent) reduction in cardiovascular disease risk and a 39 percent decrease in mortality risk.
Interestingly, irrespective of how much time participants spent sitting, around 4,000 to 4,500 daily steps triggered 50 percent of the health benefits.
The scientists concluded that “any amount of daily steps above 2,200 per day was associated with lower mortality and incident cardiovascular risk, for low and high sedentary time.
Conclusions – Walking Away Sedentary Risks
Sedentary time did not undo the volume-related health improvements associated with daily steps.
Getting 9,000 to 10,500 sites daily optimally lowered the risk of early death and the incidence of cardiovascular disease, independent of sedentary time.
The threshold for lowering these risks was 4,000 to 4,500 steps daily.
Just move.
My Take – Walking Away Sedentary Risks
This study is the first to determine the optimal (and minimum) number of daily steps to lower our chances of suffering from an early death or cardiovascular disease.
The large sample size and long follow-up allowed the researchers to lower the chances of reverse causation bias; they removed subjects with an event in the first two years of follow-up.
Researchers also excluded those who self-rated their health as fair or poor, the underweight, and those with major diseases.
Those are the pros. The cons include the study’s observational design.
Moreover, the study only looked at steps and sedentary behavior at a single time point. The daily step volume appeared consistent in subjects with repeated measurements four years later.
I am delighted that my fitness program may undo much of the sedentary behavior baked into my job.
And yes, I get up and walk at least once an hour.
How to Incorporate Walking Into Your Day
You know walking is good for your health.
Here are some of my tricks for getting more steps in my day:
- I use walking as a tool to reduce my stress levels.
- I park farther away from my office or the store (when safe).
- I walk while I wait.
- I take the stairs.
- I need a dog!
- I take a moving break; I use much of my lunchtime to walk.
- I use my home treadmill. Every day.
- I walk with my wife.
Do you have any tricks for increasing your step count?
Thank you for reading “Walking Away Sedentary Risks.”
