The well -known objective of ten thousand steps per day offers only few health benefits if it is compared to a target of seven thousand steps per day, concludes a new systemic journal published by Australian researchers.
Yes, say the authors, walking ten thousand steps a day rather than seven thousand reduces the risk of death all causes, mortality due to cancer, dementia and depressive symptoms, in addition to reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease.
However, they specify, “progressive improvement beyond seven thousand steps per day was low, and there was no statistical difference between seven thousand steps per day and a number of steps higher for all other results”.
“The target of ten thousand steps is a very nice target, but it may not necessarily be the target that is necessary for everyone to have a maximum of cardiovascular benefits,” commented François Simard, a specialist in sports cardiology at the Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal.
The daily objective of ten thousand steps has never been rooted in science. It probably appeared in popular conscience (and guilt) when a Japanese company baptized its new “Manpo-Kei” pedometer (10,000 steps in Japanese) in the mid-1960s.
The authors of the new systemic journal have peeled dozens of studies and meta-analyzes bringing together tens of thousands of subjects. They come to three important conclusions:
– First of all, even a number of steps every day is associated with health benefits;
– Then, seven thousand steps per day are associated with considerable risk reductions for most results, compared to the two thousand steps per day;
-Finally, even if the risk continued to decrease beyond seven thousand steps per day, it has reached a tray for certain results.
General rule, continue the authors, each addition of a thousand steps per day reduced a little more health risks associated with different conditions. For example, the risk of death all caused by those who walk four thousand steps a day was 36 % lower than that of those who walk two thousand; The reduction jumped to 47 % when going to seven thousand steps a day.
Conclusion, they say: even a number of steps every day is associated with a reduction in risk, and “the message according to which each step counts for those who are capable of it should be put forward as a key public health message, regardless of the specific quantitative objective”.
“This study confirms (…) that cardiovascular profits are not only man in ten thousand steps, they start before that,” said Dr. Simard. It tells us that there are benefits to start moving. »»
Even if a systemic review as this brings together uneven quality studies and analyzes by default, he continues, the results leave “implying that a target of seven thousand or seven thousand five hundred steps a day could be (…) in our clinical recommendations to try to get people out of sedentary lifestyle and draw cardiovascular profits”.
The risk with targets like “ten thousand steps a day” or “at least three sessions of twenty minutes a week” is to send a message “all or nothing” to the population, said Doctor Simard.
When we talk about physical exercise, he recalled, “there is no threshold that allows us to have all the profits at once”.
“The profits appear very quickly from the first minutes,” he said. These targets are given to try to encourage people and demonstrate what is optimal. But I think there should always be a message below that, that long before that, you will have benefits, you will have benefits, and I hope it does not discourage people. »»
The message of this systemic review is therefore clear, says Doctor Simard: even people for whom a ten thousand steps are not realistic at the moment must understand that even “only” seven thousand steps will be the cause of health benefits.
The steps, like the minutes of activity, are “easy to measure”, he recalled, and “it can be very stimulating (…) to count the steps and to see the progress during the day”.
“We must not be discouraged,” concluded Doctor Simard. Do not say that it is ten thousand steps or nothing at all. We don’t waste our time. If I only have time to go for a three thousand steps, it’s worth it, you shouldn’t be discouraged. »»
The conclusions of this analysis were unveiled by the Journal Lancet Public Health.