A large population study examined whether the way daily steps accumulate (the way a person arrives at their daily step total), and not just the total number of steps, affects long-term health.
It's not just the number of steps... How does daily walking style affect health?
The study focused on sedentary adults, who walk less than 8,000 steps a day on average, and found that the benefits of walking are not limited to the number of steps, but are closely related to how they are distributed throughout the day.
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Based on an analysis of data from more than 33,000 adults in the UK Biobank, it was found that longer, continuous walking sessions significantly reduce the risk of death from any cause and limit the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease, compared to walking in short, intermittent bursts.
The study participants were followed for approximately ten years, allowing researchers to observe a clear link between walking patterns and long-term health outcomes. The overall risk of death decreased from about 4.4% among those who walked in short bursts of less than five minutes to less than 1% among those who maintained continuous walking sessions of fifteen minutes or more.
The benefits were even more pronounced with regard to heart health, with the risk of cardiovascular disease decreasing from 13% to about 4% as the duration of continuous walking increased.
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The results were most pronounced among people with very low activity levels, meaning those who walk fewer than 5,000 steps a day. This group showed greater benefit from longer walking sessions, indicating the importance of quality over quantity, especially for those leading sedentary lifestyles.
This study confirms that walking is not just a fleeting movement, but a healthy activity whose impact varies depending on its regularity and consistency. Therefore, it can be said that incorporating continuous walking periods, even just once a day, may be key to improving health and extending lifespan, without necessarily increasing the total number of steps taken.
