A new study has claimed that walking 8,000 steps once or twice a week may significantly reduce the risk of early death.
According to a study, while regular exercise is known to lower mortality risk, the study published in the journal JAMA Network Open looked at the health benefits of walking intensively only a few days a week.
For the study, researchers from Kyoto University and the University of California, Los Angeles analyzed data from 3,100 American adults.
The researchers found that those who walked 8,000 steps or more one or two days a week were 14.9 % less likely to die over 10 years than those who never reached that mark.
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For those who walked 8,000 steps or more three to seven days a week, the mortality risk was even lower — 16.5%. The health benefits of walking 8,000 steps or more one or two days a week appeared higher for participants aged 65.
“The number of days per week taking 8,000 steps or more was associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality,” the researchers said.
For the study, the researchers used daily step counts from the 3,100 participants in 2005 and 2006 and examined their mortality data 10 years later.