What is the scientific basis of 10,000 steps a day?

What is the scientific basis of 10,000 steps a day?

ഒരു ദിവസം 10,000 ചുവടുകൾ എന്നതിന്റെ ശാസ്ത്രീയ അടിസ്ഥാനം എന്താണ്?

एक दिन में 10,000 कदम चलने का वैज्ञानिक आधार क्या है?

It is often suggested that you should take 10,000 steps a day, seven days a week as part of your fitness program. Actually the number of steps need not assess the amount of walking you do. The distance walked will depend on your stride length. Anyway the concept of 10,000 steps a day is quite popular and many use pedometers to track the daily step count and often post it on social media to encourage others.

Thought of just looking at PubMed on the scientific data on the utility of 10,000 steps a day. Ohta T and colleagues checked the effect on coronary risk factors in obese middle aged subjects and the data was published in 1990 [1]. They used both 10,000 walk steps/day and diet restricted to 1500 Kcal/day for 4 months in 332 obese middle aged subjects. They found that body weight, skinfold thickness, systolic and diastolic blood pressures and serum lipids and lipoproteins improved significantly during the program. There was a significant correlation between the daily number of walk steps and the improvement in bodyweight, diastolic blood pressure and HDL cholesterol.

Another report from the same group, published in 1995 investigated the relation between body weight reduction and some complications associated with obesity [2]. The study involved 248 middle aged subjects, predominantly female, who participated in a weight reduction program from 1983 to 1990. The program consisted of 1500 Kcal/day diet and exercise in the form of 10,000 walk steps a day. Mean body weight reduction after the five month program was 5 Kg. Blood pressure, total cholesterol and triglyceride decreased significantly while HDL cholesterol was slightly increased.

A meta-analysis published in 2021 evaluated 16 publications of which 12 were related to all-cause mortality, 5 related to cardiovascular disease and one article containing both all-cause death and cardiovascular events [3]. They found a nonlinear dose-response relationship between step count and risk of all-cause mortality or cardiovascular disease. When they restricted the analysis to accelerometer based studies, the third quartile with 8959 steps/day had 40.36% lower risk of all-cause mortality. The third quartile in case of cardiovascular event was 9500 steps/day with 35.05% lower risk.

References

1. Ohta T, Kawamura T, Hatano K, Yokoi M, Uozumi Z, Okamoto N, Mizuno Y, Iwatsuka T, Hashimoto S. Effects of exercise on coronary risk factors in obese, middle-aged subjects. Jpn Circ J. 1990 Nov;54(11):1459-64. doi: 10.1253/jcj.54.11_1459. PMID: 2287051.
2. Maeda K, Ohta T, Kawamura T, Hashimoto S, Mizuno Y, Yokoi M, Iwatsuka T. [Effect of body weight reduction on blood pressure and biochemical data]. Nihon Koshu Eisei Zasshi. 1995 Aug;42(8):534-41. Japanese. PMID: 8520048.
3. Sheng M, Yang J, Bao M, Chen T, Cai R, Zhang N, Chen H, Liu M, Wu X, Zhang B, Liu Y, Chao J. The relationships between step count and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events: A dose-response meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2021 Sep 20:S2095-2546(21)00101-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2021.09.004. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34547483.