The Benefits of Walking a Thousand Steps a Day

Results from a study conducted by scientists at the University of Lodz in Poland have shown that the necessary number of walking steps per day is less than previously thought. The European Journal of Preventive Cardiology indicates that the daily required number of walking steps to reduce the risk of serious diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, is actually lower than earlier estimates. According to the journal, researchers analyzed data from 17 scientific studies involving 226,889 people and found that the risk of experiencing a serious health condition, regardless of the cause, decreases with every additional 500-1000 steps. Increasing steps by 1000 reduces risks by 15 percent, while increasing them by 500 cuts the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 7 percent. Walking 3,967 steps a day lowers various health risks, and 2,337 steps a day reduces the risk of fatal cardiovascular diseases. However, the researchers could not determine an upper limit, as the benefits of walking continued to increase up to 20,000 steps a day. It is noteworthy that a lack of physical activity affects more than a quarter of the world's population, with women being more affected than men (32% compared to 23%) and individuals in high-income countries compared to those in low-income countries (37% versus 16%) due to insufficient physical activity.