Although the impact of the number of steps on physical health has already been demonstrated by numerous studies, that on mental health remains less documented. This is why scientists from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain sought to determine the ideal number of steps to avoid the risks of depression and improve mental health.
Several studies involving 100,000 participants
The researchers analyzed 33 different studies involving almost 100,000 people around the world. All participants wore pedometers to determine their accurate step counts and provided information about their mental health via questionnaires.
This analysis revealed that people doing 7,000 steps per day are almost a third (31%) less likely to suffer from depression. The risk decreases by a further 9% for every 10,000 steps per day, according to the study. “Our results showed significant associations between a higher number of daily steps and decreased depressive symptoms as well as lower prevalence and risk of depression in the general adult population,” the scientists write in the findings. ‘study.
Increasing the number of steps increases the beneficial effects on health
However, the results of this research, published in the journal Jama Network…
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