New findings on daily walking steps required for longevity

A meta-analysis of 15 studies involving nearly 50,000 people on four continents provides new insights into the number of daily walking steps that best improves health and longevity in adults and whether steps vary across age groups.

This analysis represents an effort to generate evidence-based public health information on the benefits of physical activity

An international team of scientists led by Amanda Paluch, a physical activity epidemiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, found that taking a few extra steps a day could help reduce premature risk of death

More specifically, for adults 60 and older, the risk of premature death stabilized at about 6,000-8,000 steps per day, meaning that taking a few more steps did not provide additional longevity benefits

"So, what we saw was that as the number of steps increased, the risk gradually decreased until it stabilized," Palluk said

Interestingly, the study found no clear link to walking speed other than total steps per day, Palluk noted

The new study supports and expands on the findings of another study led by Paluk and published last September in JAMA Network Open, which found that walking at least daily 7,000 steps, can reduce the risk of premature death in middle-aged people

The 2018 updated Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week

"Tracking steps is very simple, and fitness tracking devices are growing rapidly," Palucci said

The research team synthesized evidence from 15 studies that investigated the effect of daily walking on all-cause mortality in adults 18 and older

According to the meta-analysis, the three groups that walked more steps per day and were more physically active had a 40-53% lower risk of death compared to the group with the lowest number of steps in the quartile

"The main takeaway is that there's a lot of evidence that a little more exercise can be beneficial, especially for those who don't exercise much," Paluk said