Health Outcomes in Older Women Improved With 4,000 Steps Per Day a Couple Days Per Week

FRIDAY, Oct. 24, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Among older women, achieving ≥4,000 steps per day even just one or two days per week is associated with better health outcomes, according to a study published online Oct. 21 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Rikuta Hamaya, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examined the associations between the number of days per week achieving various daily step thresholds and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence in older women. The analysis included 13,547 women free of CVD and cancer (mean age, 71.8 years) who wore an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer for seven consecutive days between 2011 and 2015 and were then followed through 2024.

The researchers found that during a median follow-up of 10.9 years, 13.0 percent of women died and 5.1 percent developed CVD. There was an association between achieving ≥4000 steps/day on one to two days/week and three or more days/week and lower mortality risk compared with zero days/week (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.74 and 0.60, respectively). Corresponding results for CVD were 0.73 and 0.73, respectively. There was an inverse curvilinear dose-response relationship for mortality, with the risk for mortality further declining modestly with higher step thresholds (5,000, 6,000, or 7,000 steps). 

“These findings provide additional evidence for considering including step metrics in the next physical activity guidelines, and that ‘bunching’ steps is a viable option for health,” the authors write.

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