Older women can get away with fewer than 10,000 steps a day, still cut death rate, study finds

Although it is commonly believed that 10,000 steps per day are necessary for a long and healthy life, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that 4,400 steps may be enough to reduce death rates among older women.

Researchers studied 18,289 U.S. women who wore an accelerometer during waking hours for seven days between 2011 and 2015. The researchers examined data from 16,741 women who wore the accelerometer for 10 hours or more a day for four or more days.

The mean age of study participants was 72 years and mean step count was 5,499 per day.

The study shows about 4,400 steps per day was significantly linked to lower mortality rates among the women, compared to those women who only took about 2,700 steps per day.

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