A large population-based study examined whether the way daily steps are accumulated—that is, how a person reaches their total number of steps each day—rather than just the total step count, affects long-term health.
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The study focused on low-activity adults who walk fewer than 8,000 steps per day on average. It found that the benefits of walking are not limited to the number of steps alone, but are closely linked to how those steps are distributed throughout the day.
Based on an analysis of data from more than 33,000 adults in the UK Biobank, researchers found that extending the duration of continuous walking sessions significantly reduces the risk of death from any cause and lowers the likelihood of developing cardiovascular diseases, compared with walking in short, fragmented bouts.
Participants were followed for nearly ten years, allowing researchers to identify a clear relationship between walking patterns and long-term health outcomes. Overall mortality risk dropped from about 4.4% among those who walked in bouts of less than five minutes to less than 1% among those who engaged in continuous walking sessions lasting 15 minutes or more.
The benefits were even more pronounced for heart health, with the risk of cardiovascular disease declining from 13% to around 4% as the duration of uninterrupted walking increased.
The results were especially evident among individuals with very low activity levels—those who walked no more than 5,000 steps per day. This group showed greater benefits from longer walking sessions, highlighting the importance of quality over quantity, particularly for people with sedentary lifestyles.
The study confirms that walking is not merely a casual movement, but a health-promoting activity whose impact varies depending on regularity and duration. Incorporating even a single continuous walking session each day may be key to improving health and extending lifespan, without necessarily increasing the total number of daily steps.
Science Daily
