A new study has found that just 2,200 steps per day could improve health, but it didn’t have the most optimal results for every lifestyle

A fresh study published in the BMJ has revealed the precise number of steps people should aim for daily to reduce their risk of death and heart disease. The common target has often been 10,000 steps per day, but this research examined how a person’s typical activity levels influenced the optimal step count, particularly for those who lead largely sedentary lives.

The data from the participants was divided into two categories; low levels of sedentary time, such as sitting down, were classified as less than 10.5 hours per day. Those who were inactive for more than 10.5 hours each day were categorised in the high sedentary time group.

Drawing on data from the UK Biobank involving over 70,000 participants, the researchers discovered that starting from 2,200 steps each day, the risk of death and heart disease began to decrease for both high and low sedentary time groups.

However, the minimum number of steps required to significantly lower the risk of death and heart disease was 4,000.

Between 6,000 and 10,500 steps per day, the high sedentary time group experienced a greater reduction in their mortality risk than the low sedentary time group, decreasing their risk by an additional 10% approximately.

People who take between 9,000 to 10,500 steps per day have the lowest risk of dying prematurely, regardless of how much time they spend sitting down, according to a study. This is considered the “optimal dose” of daily walking.

The researchers hope their findings can help improve health advice and goal setting for people trying to increase their step count. They stated: “Our findings emphasise the importance of increasing daily steps particularly among adults who are highly sedentary.

“In the high sedentary time group, the stronger association could be attributable to the more pronounced impact of daily step accumulation in individuals who are at a higher risk of mortality from the adverse effects of sedentary time.

“Among the high sedentary time group, being sufficiently active through daily step accumulation may ameliorate downstream effects of sedentary time, lowering the risk of developing comorbidities and subsequently leading to lower mortality risk.

“If confirmed in future studies, our dose–response findings may help to improve health messaging and goal setting for the most at-risk individuals in the population.”

The researchers ultimately concluded that the “minimal dose” of daily steps should be around 4,000 and 4,500 per day to lower the risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease regardless of how sedentary your lifestyle currently is.

Research has previously shown that spending more than 10-14 hours per day sitting down could raise the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease by up to 50%. Meanwhile, clocking up around 10,000 steps daily has been linked to reduced risk of mortality and morbidity.

The study concluded: “Our results indicate sedentary time did not significantly modify the dose-response association of daily steps. We also found the amount of physical activity needed to lower the risk of mortality and incident CVD may be lower than previously suggested using self-reported data.”