Professor Melody Ding from the School of Public Health, who led the study, stated that 7,000 steps is a rather more achievable benchmark for people who struggle to meet traditional exercise guidelines, and also provides similar outcomes to those of 10,000 steps.
“Aiming for 7000 steps is a realistic goal based on our findings, which assessed health outcomes in a range of areas that hadn’t been looked at before. However, for those who cannot yet achieve 7000 steps a day, even small increases in step counts, such as increasing from 2000 to 4000 steps a day, are associated with significant health gains. We know daily step count is linked to living longer, but we now also have evidence that walking at least 7000 steps a day can significantly improve eight major health outcomes – including reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, and depressive symptoms,” Professor Ding said in a statement.
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