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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Get off your seat and on your feet. Walk. Be active. Aim for 10,000 steps each day. This advice is everywhere and we are urged to use a fitness app or wear a pedometer. Though a 10,000 step-a-day program is often touted as the gold standard in fitness and it is a worthy goal to aim for, its origins are less than scientific. And, it may not be the appropriate or achievable goal for everyone.
A question many people ask when starting a walking program, is just how far is 10,000 steps? For an adult with an average stride length of 2.5 feet, it would take approximately 2,000 steps to walk one mile. So, 10,000 steps are close to 5 miles. Most healthy adults can achieve this daily milestone.
There is limited research on whether increasing the number of steps you take each day to 10,000 will achieve health benefits such as lowering blood pressure or reducing weight. We do know that adding any exercise to your day does have a positive effect on health. We also know that walking is easy for most and can be done anywhere without special equipment.
Researchers at Louisiana State University (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14715035) attempted to use average steps-per-day to classify the activity level in healthy adults. They found that if you normally walk less than 5,000 steps a day (a little over 2 miles), you are considered inactive. Just knowing this might spur someone to add some activity into their life. Those who walk 5,000 to 7,499 steps (a little more than 2 miles, but less than 4 miles) each day are considered less active adults. Those who normally walked 7,500 to 9,999 steps (3.75 miles to 5 miles) a day either made an effort to work in some activity daily or worked at a very physically active job. They are classified as somewhat active. Regularly walking 10,000 or more steps each day classifies you as an active individual. Those who walk 12,500 or more steps a day are considered highly active.
When you look at these groups, most of us have a long way to go to reach the active group. Knowing how many steps you walk on most days can help you move your activity to a higher level. But for many, this could be very discouraging news. That is why many fitness experts feel this artificial goal of 10,000 steps per day can have a negative impact for some.
For children, older individuals, those with serious health issues, and people who are very overweight, the 10,000 steps-per-day goal may not be the best. Kids, who are at risk of weighing too much, should be more active than this. For the most inactive group of the US population (and that is a rather big slice) it could be a challenge to get them to reach 5,000 steps per day. But, going from 2,000 to 5,000 steps a day can be a big victory for someone who rarely exercises. In a large European study (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2015/01/14/ajcn.114.100065.abstract) looking at causes of death and level of physical activity, the greatest gains, a 20% to 30% reduction in deaths, happened in the group that moved from being inactive to being moderately inactive. This shows that improvement counts, no matter where you start on the physical activity scale.
The lead researcher of the European study, Ulf Ekeland, Senior Investigator Scientist at the Norwegian School of Sports, suggests this take-home message. “Stand rather than sit, walk rather than stand, jog rather than walk, run rather than jog.” Catherine Tudor-Locke, PhD, whose research classified levels of activity by the average number of steps someone took each day, gives an even simpler message, “Just move more than before.”
You should know: The average American adult watches 23 hours of TV a week which adds up to 10 years over a lifetime. And, we eat 300 calories more every day than we ate 35 years ago. This adds up to 2,100 extra calories each week. It is time for all of us to start walking more.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with sales of more than 8.5 million books.
Look for:
The Diabetes Counter, 5th Ed., 2014
The Fat and Cholesterol Counter, 2014
The Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2013
The Calorie Counter, 6th Ed., 2013
The Complete Food Counter, 4th ed., 2012
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.
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