In a recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine , researchers compared two forms of physical activity (PA) level monitoring methods, namely clocks and step counters, to assess whether either is associated with better health outcomes for women in their 60s. Their results, derived from a cohort study, indicate that the two monitoring strategies were similar regarding their relationship with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality, allowing health guidelines to accommodate personal preference for choice of metric. Study: Time- vs Step-Based Physical Activity Metrics for Health .
Image Credit: zkolra / Shutterstock Physical health is crucial to reducing the risk of premature death and non-communicable disease. The United States guidelines published in 2018 recommend that adults engage in at least 150 minutes of moderately intense or 75 minutes of vigorously intense aerobic PA weekly, calculated from self-reported PA data. However, these guidelines do not account for step count goals due to insufficient evidence.
Recent interest has grown in utilizing daily steps as a health biomarker, spurred by fitness trackers and smartphones. Studies indicate an inverse relationship between step counts and mortality from all causes, particularly significant at 6,000-8,000 steps for older adults and 8,000-10,000 steps for younger individuals. Associations between higher step counts and improved cardiovascular health have also been observed.
Despite this, no direct comparisons.