by Aria Bendix (NBC News)
New research challenges the idea that people need to hit 10,000 steps per day before they see significant health benefits.
Walking just 4,000 steps per day is associated with a lower risk of death, according to the analysis published Tuesday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
The research pooled the results of 17 studies that looked at the health benefits associated with step counts across six countries. The least active people in the studies took around 4,000 steps per day and still saw a reduced risk of death from any cause. The more steps people took, the lower their risk of dying.
Each extra 1,000 steps per day was associated with a 15% reduction in a person’s overall risk of death, according to the research.
