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Study says 10,000 steps are great, but how fast we walk important, too

Walking in the rain in Vancouver B.C. on June 3, 2022.
Walking in the rain in Vancouver B.C. on June 3, 2022. Photo by Francis Georgian/Postmedia files /Francis Georgian/Postmedia files

Keep walking your 10,000 steps a day, but you also might want to pick up the pace.

While studies have confirmed that walking that much each day is very good for us, scientists from the University of Sydney and the University of Southern Denmark, have come up with new information analyzing how speed can come into play.

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Participants in a study — based on data from 78,500 adults in the United Kingdom, between 2013 and 2015 — wore fitness trackers at all times for a week. The trackers recorded how many steps they walked as well as how fast they were going.

The scientists then looked at their health outcomes seven years later.

The study — published this month in the journals JAMA Internal Medicine and JAMA Neurology — found that walking 10,000 steps daily lowers the risk of dementia by about 50%, the risk of cancer by about 30%, and the risk of cardiovascular disease by about 75%.

As well, the study also indicated that even if you walk less than 10,000 steps a day, just walking a bit can be beneficial (at least 2,000 steps), and that walking too much (like 20,000 steps) won’t extend the health benefits.