Walking 10,000 steps a day has long been a fitness cliché. But new research suggests that the health benefits of walking ramp up until about 7,000 steps — before leveling out. And as daily goals go, that’s a little more attainable.

每天走10000步早已是健身界的老生常谈，但新研究表明，步行带来的健康益处会逐步提升，约7000步时达到峰值，之后便趋于平缓。而作为日常目标，7000步显然更易实现。

The analysis, published today in the medical journal The Lancet Public Health, examined data from 57 studies and found that even moderate amounts of walking were associated with a lower risk of dementia and cardiovascular disease, among other conditions, adding to a wide body of research tying walking to longevity. People who walked 7,000 steps a day (roughly three miles) also had a 47 percent lower risk of death compared with those who walked 2,000 steps, the analysis found.

这项分析发表于医学期刊《柳叶刀公共卫生》(The Lancet Public Health)，整合了57项研究的数据，它发现即便中量步行，也能降低失智症、心血管疾病等多种疾病风险，这进一步佐证了大量将步行与长寿关联的研究。分析显示，比起每天走2000步的人，每天走7000步（约五公里）的人死亡风险降低47%。

“It is just as important to walk 7,000 steps a day as it is to take your pills,” said Dr. Joshua Knowles, a cardiologist at Stanford Health Care.

“每天走7000步，其重要性不亚于按时服药，”斯坦福医疗保健中心的心脏病专家约书亚·诺尔斯博士说。

The Many Benefits of Walking

步行的诸多益处

Decades of research shows that walking improves metabolic health, making the heart stronger and more efficient while also reducing weight, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, said Keith Baar, a physiologist at the University of California, Davis.

加州大学戴维斯分校的生理学家基思·巴尔表示，数十年的研究表明，走路能改善代谢健康，增强心脏功能、提升心脏效率，同时还能减轻体重、降低胆固醇和血糖水平。

While most scientific reviews have looked at how higher step counts are linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death, the new analysis examined associations across a much broader range of conditions. For example, the study found that walking 7,000 steps a day was associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, depressive symptoms and cancer death, when compared with 2,000 steps.

以往大多数科学综述关注步数增加与心血管疾病及死亡风险降低的关联，而这项新分析覆盖了更广泛的疾病类型。例如，研究发现，与每天走2000步相比，每天走7000步与2型糖尿病、抑郁症状及癌症死亡风险降低相关。

Experts said the most surprising finding was the nearly 40 percent lower risk of dementia in people who walked 7,000 versus 2,000 steps a day. While the exact mechanism isn’t clear, exercise is linked to new neuron growth, greater blood flow to the brain and less neurological inflammation, said Dr. Nikhil Palekar, the director of the Stony Brook Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease.

专家称，最令人意外的发现是：每天走7000步的人失智症风险比走2000步的人低近40%。石溪大学阿尔茨海默病卓越中心主任尼希尔·帕莱卡尔博士解释，尽管确切机制尚不清楚，但运动与神经元新生、脑部血流量增加及神经炎症减轻相关。

“Getting up and moving has got to be the top priority,” Dr. Knowles said.

“起身活动必须是首要任务，”诺尔斯说。

The Myth of 10,000 Steps

10000步的迷思

For decades, 10,000 steps was touted as the magic number for good health. But the recommendation is more myth than science, and researchers have debunked it in recent years.

数十年来，10000步一直被奉为有益健康的神奇数字。但这一建议更像是传说而非科学结论，研究人员近年来已揭穿了这一说法。

“We don’t have any evidence for 10,000 steps,” said Melody Ding, an epidemiologist at the University of Sydney School of Public Health and the lead author of the new study. “It’s just a really big random number that people throw out there.”

“我们没有任何证据支持10000步的说法，”这项新研究的主要作者、悉尼大学公共卫生学院流行病学家梅洛迪·丁（音）说。“这只是人们随口提出的一个较大的随机数字。”

The analysis found that there was no significant difference in the risk of falls, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular mortality between people who walked 7,000 versus 10,000 steps per day. There was some improvement beyond 7,000 steps for the risk of dementia and death, although it was small, Dr. Ding added.

分析发现，在跌倒风险、癌症、2型糖尿病及心血管疾病死亡率方面，每天走7000步和10000步的人没有显著差异。梅洛迪·丁还说，超过7000步后，失智症和死亡风险虽有小幅改善，但提升空间已十分有限。

The health benefits of walking are like juicing an orange: The first few squeezes give the most juice, but after a while, things start to dry up. In the study, increasing from 2,000 to 4,000 steps a day was associated with a 36 percent lower risk of death, while going from 4,000 to 7,000 was linked to a 17 percent lower risk. The gains flatten further beyond that.

步行的健康益处就像榨橙汁：前几下能榨出最多果汁，但到一定程度后，汁水就会越来越少。研究中，每天步数从2000步增加到4000步，死亡风险降低36%；从4000步增加到7000步，死亡风险再降17%；超过7000步后，收益曲线进一步趋平。

Higher step counts are not harmful, said Hannah Arem, an epidemiologist at MedStar Health Research Institute in Washington — but nobody needs to feel guilty if they can’t hit 10,000.

华盛顿MedStar健康研究所的流行病学家汉娜·阿雷姆表示，步数更多并非有害，但即便达不到10000步，也无需自责。

Moving, Even a Little Bit, Matters

哪怕少量活动也有意义

The new data only shows a correlation and cannot prove that walking caused these health benefits. After all, people who walk more tend to be less frail and eat better, potentially muddying the results, said Dr. Seth Martin, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The specific risk reduction for dementia should also be interpreted with caution, since it was based on just two studies.

新数据仅显示相关性，无法证明步行是这些健康益处的直接原因。约翰·霍普金斯医学院的心脏病专家塞思·马丁博士解释，毕竟步行量大者往往身体更健壮、饮食更健康，这些因素可能会干扰研究结果。此外，失智症风险降低的具体数据也需谨慎解读，因为它仅基于两项研究。

Experts also say that intensity still matters. So, on your daily walk, consider adding lunges, picking up the pace or choosing a route with hills or stairs.

专家还表示，强度也很重要。因此，日常走路时可以尝试加入弓步训练、加快步伐，或选择带有坡度或台阶的路线。

Regardless, the evidence is overwhelming that “any steps are good steps,” Dr. Martin said. And while not everyone can remember how many minutes they’ve exercised, almost everyone can track their steps over time with their smartphone.

尽管如此，马丁说，大量证据表明“任何步数都是有益的”。而且，虽然不是每个人都能记住自己运动了多少分钟，但几乎所有人都能通过智能手机追踪一段时间内的步数。

“If you improve your step count, you are impacting your health across the board,” he said.

“只要增加步数，就能全面改善健康状况，”他说。