Author : Dr. P. D.GUPTA
Former Director Grade Scientist, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India
www.daylife.page
Now most of us count steps every day or watch the clock for a longer life. Exercise recommendations typically focus on the duration of physical activity. For example, the World Health Organization advises at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week. A new analysis of data from the Women's Health Study, suggested that step count could also be a useful metric. For some, such a recommendation might be easier to follow and others follow under compulsion. This is a basic fact in biology that no 2 individuals are the same. Recommended dose may not be suitable for all. There may be many variables depending on age , gender, weather conditions, metabolic status, etc. There are no well-founded recommendations for step counts, partly due to a lack of scientific evidence linking steps with mortality and cardiovascular diseases. The often-cited 10,000 steps per day originated from a marketing campaign in Japan in the 1960s.
Participants who engaged in more than the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week had a 32% lower mortality risk than those who were the least physically active. Women with > 7000 steps per day had a 42% lower mortality risk than those with the lowest daily step count.
For the endpoint of cardiovascular diseases (heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular mortality), the researchers observed similar results as for mortality.
Hamaya, a big name in risk reduction in death due to physical activity, found that both physical activity parameters, for example a median of 62 minutes per week, were associated with lower mortality and reduced risk for cardiovascular diseases. Participants who engaged in more than the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week had a 32% lower mortality risk than those who were the least physically active. Women with > 7000 steps per day had a 42% lower mortality risk than those with the lowest daily step count.
Hamaya and his colleagues emphasized the importance of offering multiple ways to meet exercise recommendations: "For some, especially younger people, physical activity includes sports like tennis, soccer, walking, or jogging. All these can be tracked well with step counting. But for others, activity means cycling or swimming, which is easier to measure by duration."
For Gross, the new findings provide a basis for using step counts to set physical activity goals — both in individual patient counseling and in formal guidelines. However, he stressed that further studies are necessary. (The author has his own study and views)
