7,000 Steps Per Day Tied to Lower Risk for Early Death

TUESDAY, Sept. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — People who take 7,000 steps per day or more are at lower risk for premature death than those who take fewer steps per day, according to a study published online Sept. 3 in JAMA Network Open.

Amanda E. Paluch, Ph.D., from the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and colleagues used data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study to estimate the association of steps per day with premature (age 41 to 65 years) all-cause mortality. The analysis included 2,110 participants (aged 38 to 50 years) with daily step volumes measured by an accelerometer from 2005 to 2006 and with follow-up for a mean of 10.8 years.

The researchers observed a significantly lower risk for mortality in the moderate (hazard ratio [HR], 0.28; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.15 to 0.54; risk difference, 53 events per 1,000 people) and high (HR, 0.45; 95 percent CI, 0.25 to 0.81; risk difference, 41 events per 1,000 people) step groups compared with the low step group. A moderate/high step rate was associated with a reduced risk for mortality in Black participants (HR, 0.30; 95 percent CI, 0.14 to 0.63) and in White participants (HR, 0.37; 95 percent CI, 0.17 to 0.81) and in both women (HR, 0.28; 95 percent CI, 0.12 to 0.63) and men (HR, 0.42; 95 percent CI, 0.20 to 0.88). Peak 30-minute intensity (lowest versus highest tertile: HR, 0.98; 95 percent CI, 0.54 to 1.77) or time at 100 steps/minute or more (lowest versus highest tertile: HR, 1.38; 95 percent CI, 0.73 to 2.61) were not associated with the risk for mortality.

“It is important to provide evidence-based recommendations for the number and intensity of steps associated with mortality and other health benefits,” the authors write.

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