WALK OF LIFE

It became one of those health messages that's so lodged into our public health consciousness without question.

But despite us being told to aim for 10,000 steps a day, the average Brit only takes between 3-4,000 steps a day, according to the NHS. And those who work from home could be taking much less.

So, the new research from the London School of Economics (LSE) showing that walking 5,000 steps three times a week could add three years to your life is most welcome. It seems that finally there is something doable that most of us can achieve and not be deemed a constant failure at.

A third of us are currently considered inactive because we do less than the government’s guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week, the equivalent of 20 minutes – approximately 2,400 steps – walking a day.

The LSE research found that regular walking for more than two years adds 2.5 years to the life expectancy of physically inactive men and three years for inactive women.

In fact, the benefits were more pronounced the older people were. People aged 65 and over could even potentially cut their risk of death by 72 percent if they took 7,500 steps a few times a week.

They also found that 55-year-olds with type 2 diabetes could reduce their risk of death by 40 percent if they start walking 5,000 steps three times a week.

Add these new findings to another study that came out just last week, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that showed that taking 4,000 daily steps reduced the risk of an early death by 20 percent and that any steps over 2,200 steps a day improved health and mortality – does it mean that “10,000 steps a day” has been a myth all along?