According to a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the overall volume of steps is more crucial than the frequency of reaching a daily step target throughout the week for reducing the risk of mortality and cardiovascular diseases in older women.
The study found that women who take at least 4,000 steps on just one or two days per week already show a significant reduction in risk, compared to those who never reach this threshold:
- Risk of death from any cause: reduced by 26%.
- Risk of cardiovascular disease death: reduced by 27%.
Taking 4,000 steps on more than 3 days per week further reduces the risk of death (up to 40%), but the risk of cardiovascular disease death remains virtually unchanged.
Even though achieving a higher number of steps (e.g., 5,000 to 7,000) on a higher frequency of days (e.g., 3 or more days per week) was associated with an additional, modest reduction in the risk of death, the study concluded that the total volume of average daily steps is the main determinant of the protective effect.
The scientists suggest that, due to the importance of step volume, the frequency of meeting a daily step threshold is not critical in the older population. This means that there is no ideal physical activity pattern; older women can undertake physical activity in any preferred form and frequency to reduce the risk of mortality and developing cardiovascular diseases.
The research, which involved 13,547 women with an average age of 71 and followed them for nearly 11 years, provides additional evidence that walking is indeed beneficial for health.
