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2,200 Is Minimum Number of Daily Steps Needed to Lower Death, CVD Risk

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 15, 2024.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, March 15, 2024 -- Any amount of activity above 2,200 steps per day is associated with lower mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, regardless of sedentary time, according to a study published online March 5 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Matthew N. Ahmadi, from University of Sydney, and colleagues examined associations between daily step count and all-cause mortality and incident CVD by sedentary time levels. Analysis included data from 72,174 older participants in the U.K. Biobank followed for 6.9 years.

The researchers found that compared to a reference of 2,200 steps/day (fifth percentile), the optimal dose (nadir of the curve) for all-cause mortality ranged between 9,000 and 10,500 steps/day for high (hazard ratio [HR], 0.61) and low (HR, 0.69) sedentary time. There was a subtle gradient of association by sedentary time level with the lowest risk of incident CVD observed at approximately 9,700 steps/day for high (HR, 0.79) and low (HR, 0.71) sedentary time. Across sedentary time groups, the minimal dose (steps/day associated with 50 percent of the optimal dose) of daily steps was between 4,000 and 4,500 steps/day for all-cause mortality and incident CVD.

"For a roughly equivalent number of steps/day, the risk of incident CVD was lower for low sedentary time compared with high sedentary time," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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