Walking is good. We all know this. But how much should you do? 10,000 steps is a number widely discussed. But what do studies show? This new meta study looked at online published studies in adults to see the effect of daily step count on “all cause mortality.” They actually got other study investigators to process their patient data following their standardized protocol to get a large sample size. This meta study ended with a total sample of 47K adults, mean age 65, 68% female, study follow up 7 years. They looked at:
- Number of steps
- Stepping rate (highest number of steps over 30 minutes or 60 minutes)
- Stepping rate as the time in minutes, walking 40 steps/minute (intentional walk) 0r 100 steps/minute (moderate walking pace).
This was a meta analysis, “Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts,” published in the Lancet March 2022.
What did they find? Overall, they found younger adults had significantly higher steps/day. They found the benefit of steps increased with more steps, but plateaued.
- Decreasing risk of mortality in those age 60> with increasing number of steps per day until 6-8000 steps, where the benefit plateaued.
- Age affected step number plateau. For adults <60 there was a decreasing risk of all cause mortality until 8-10,000 steps/day.
- When comparing the highest and lowest quartiles, those with the highest had 40-53% lower risk of mortality.
- Gender did not affect risk.
- Faster walking was inconsistent to lower mortality. (Total volume of steps was important) There was some evidence that increasing peak stepping rate for any 30 minute period, independent of steps per day, was associated with lower mortality.
In their discussion, they talk about how older adults have issues with mobility, aerobic capacity, and biomechanical inefficiencies, which may restrict their ability to take more steps. Peak stepping rates might just be reflecting better fitness levels, rather than time walking.
Our thoughts at Biohackr?
Get moving. So many of our blogs on superagers, healthspan, the blue zones, how to have better blood sugar, and longevity involve activity. It isn’t just going to the gym. It is walking to your car, taking the stairs when you can, vacuuming, and walking your dog.
This meta study seems to give good data that 10,000 steps is not the magic number for adults over the age of 60. We were surprised by those who walked the most had a 40-53% lower risk of mortality. That is significant. Given a step tracker is on everyone’s smart phone, it seems to be a good place to start tracking your activity on your healthspan journey with us.
