If you had a goal of 10,000 steps per day for heart health this year and are discouraged because you are having trouble keeping that pace, the latest research could help change how you feel. Researchers from the University at Buffalo found the actual number of daily steps needed by older adults to substantially reduce the risk of heart failure is actually much less.
An observational study of nearly 6,000 women between the ages of 63 and 99 found an average of 3,600 steps per day at normal pace was associated with a 26 percent lower risk of developing heart failure.
The study used data from the Women's Health Initiative which measured physical activity through the use of an accelerometer, as well as sedentary time. Researchers found a direct correlation between those two activities when tracking heart failure risk.
Heart failure risk was 12 percent lower for every 70 minutes per day of light intensity activities, things such as self-care and chores around the house, while the risk went up 17 percent for every 90 minutes of sedentary time. The incorporation of moderate to vigorous activity such as walking, climbing stairs, or yard work for 30 minutes resulted in a 16 percent risk reduction.
"In ambulatory older women, higher amounts of usual daily light and moderate intensity activities were associated with lower risk of developing heart failure with preserved ejection fraction independent of demographic and clinical factors associated with heart failure risk," says the study's lead author Michael J. LaMonte, Ph.D., research professor of epidemiology and environmental health in UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions. "Accumulating 3,000 steps per day might be a reasonable target that would be consistent with the amount of daily activity performed by women in this study.
"Steps per day is easily understood and can be measured by a variety of consumer-level wearable devices to help people monitor their physical activity levels," LaMonte added. "Our results showing heart failure prevention in older women might be enhanced through walking around 3,000 steps or so per day at usual pace is very relevant given the current emphasis at the federal level on identifying an amount of daily physical activity that can be referenced against steps per day for cardiovascular health and resilience to incorporate in future public health guidelines."
The average number of steps per day for the women in the study was 3.588, while the average among women of similar age in the U.S. is estimated to be 2,340.
"It appeared that intensity of stepping did not influence the lower risk of heart failure as results were comparable for light intensity steps and for more vigorous steps," LaMonte said.