With the new year, here comes the time for good resolutions… by Régis Juanico

Chronicle Let’s move! #19

…and endless questions during family holiday meals: do we really need to take 10,000 steps a day, an omnipresent goal in our smartphones and health applications, to stay in shape?

This recommendation to take 10,000 steps per day has no real scientific basis. It dates from the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The Japanese company Yamasa Corporation launched a pedometer for the occasion called the Manpo-Kei, whose slogan was “Let’s walk 10,000 steps a day.” This round number, chosen for purely marketing reasons, was subsequently adopted throughout the world.

Therefore, what is a reasonable objective to set when you do not have the possibility of walking between 1h15 and 1h30, at 5 or 6 km/h, the time required to reach 10,000 steps, or around 6.5-7km, walking at a good pace.

The results of a meta-analysis of 50,000 people from four different continents from the University of Massachusetts show that 7,000 steps per day, or 4.5 km (the average step being 65 cm), 1 hour of walking or 40 minutes of brisk walking reduces the risk of death by 50% to 70% compared to those who take fewer than 7,000 steps per day (Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts).

Even with 4,000 steps per day, we reduce mortality by 30%.

The distance to walk each day to reduce your cardiovascular risk ranges from 7,000 to 9,000 steps, according to another meta-analysis involving more than 110,000 participants, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The analysis also reveals that the more steps you take, the better!

There is no such thing as an excessive number of steps that is harmful to health. Minimal amounts of daily steps, between 2,600 and 2,800 steps can already reduce all-cause mortality by 8% and the risk of cardiovascular disease by 11% in those observed.

Measurable benefits can be achieved with small increases in the number of steps per day: so, for people with low levels of physical activity, an additional 500 steps and a gradual increase in the number of steps already improves health.

Faster walking is associated with a reduced risk of mortality, regardless of the total number of steps taken each day.

The current average for French people is around 3,000 to 4,000 steps per day: setting yourself the goal of taking 1,000 more steps per day can be much more motivating and within reach of the greatest number of people than 8 or 10,000 steps. per day.

In conclusion, what counts is regular physical activity – even broken up with several sequences of 10 to 15 minutes – and adapted to the physical abilities and age of each person, in particular for chronically ill people or people with disabilities. .