If being lectured about health benefits of walking makes you grumpy, there is a remedy...
If you are put off by the target of walking 10,000 steps a day, doing 7,000 still has considerable benefits
The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates appears to have had a sense of humour. If his suggested remedy for a bad mood – going for a walk – did not work, his alternative was simple: “Go for another walk.”
Modern science has since added a myriad of extra reasons for regular perambulation, with 10,000 steps (about five miles) a day the usual recommended target. However, new research suggests 7,000 steps can have “sizeable” benefits, including reduced risks of a premature death, dementia, diabetes, depression and heart disease.
Writing in the journal Lancet Public Health, researchers from the University of Sydney said this lower target produced meaningful health improvements and “might be a more realistic and achievable target for some”. And they added: “Even modest daily step counts give health benefits.”
So, in short, if you find yourself sitting at a desk – or on a couch – all day, you may wish to consider finding the time for a walk. It will do you good. And if that’s a message you don’t want to hear, if it puts you in a bad mood, well, you know what to do...
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