Saturday, May 18, 2024
Research

Daily steps are important, but does walking speed matter?

Gayan Perera

(Cruz et al., 2022)

Cancer and cardiovascular disease are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Lifestyle interventions such as physical activity can help reduce the risk, but most people don’t meet the recommended guidelines.

Walking is an excellent way of increasing physical activity, which has been shown to reduce all-cause mortality risk. 

However, research on how daily step count affects cancer and CVD mortality, how many daily steps are optimal, and whether walking speed plays a role is lacking.

Cruz et al., 2022 a 7-year prospective cohort study of 78,500 adult participants (ages 40-79), looked at whether daily step count and walking intensity were linked to mortality risks from all causes, cancer or CVD. 

Results:

  • A higher daily step count was linked to a lower risk of all-cause, cancer, and CVD mortality. 
  • These associations were strong, up to 10,000 steps per day, but no further risk reductions were observed after that. 
  • The walking intensity was also linked to lower mortality and incidence rates across the board. 
  • The optimal peak walking speed for all outcomes was around 80 steps/min.

Note:

  • Overall, this study’s findings agree well with previous research for daily step count but not for walking intensity.
  • In terms of walking intensity, this study contradicts previous research because most studies found no link between walking intensity and mortality risk. 

Conclusion:

As far as I’m aware, this is the first study showing a higher walking speed association with lower mortality risk. One new study doesn’t replace previous studies unless the research methods of previous studies are outdated. As of this point, the weight of evidence suggests that walking speed doesn’t really affect mortality risk.

Reference:

Del Pozo Cruz B, Ahmadi MN, Lee IM, Stamatakis E. Prospective Associations of Daily Step Counts and Intensity With Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Incidence and Mortality and All-Cause Mortality. JAMA Intern Med. 2022 Nov 1;182(11):1139-1148. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.4000. PMID: 36094529; PMCID: PMC9468953.