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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : June 12, 2014 5:59 PM IST
It isn't uncommon to see even youngsters complaining of knee problems these days due to sedentary lifestyles. If you want to prevent them, just walking 6000 steps a day could keep them away.
Walking 6,000 or more steps per day may protect people with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA) from developing mobility issues such as difficulty in getting up from a chair and climbing stairs, a study shows. 'Walking reduces risk of functional limitation associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA),' said Daniel White from Sargent College at Boston University in Massachusetts, US. 'We tried to find out how much daily walking is needed to minimise risk of developing problems with mobility in people with knee OA,' White added.
For the study, researchers measured daily steps taken by 1,788 people with or at risk for knee OA. Walking was measured with a monitor over seven days and functional limitation evaluated two years later. Walking an additional 1,000 steps each was associated with between a 16 percent to 18 percent reduction in incident functional limitation two years later. (Read: 11 ways you can use walking for weight loss)
Walking less than 6,000 steps daily was the best threshold for identifying those who developed functional limitation. 'We encourage those with or at risk of knee OA to walk at least 3,000 or more steps each day, and ultimately progress to 6,000 steps daily to minimise the risk of developing difficulty with mobility,' White suggested. The study was published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research. (Read: 5 reasons why walking on grass is good for your health)
The running vs walking debate is age-old, but a recent study says brisk walking is healthier than running. Does that matter to runners? Shikha Kumar finds out. This is not exactly breaking news, but it will give walkers something to crow about as they go about their daily exercise. And instead of looking enviously at the 'cooler' joggers who sail past them kitted with headphones and MP3 players et al, the walkers will be smug in the knowledge that brisk walking is doing their hearts more good than running.
A study published in April in the American Heart Association's (AHA) journal Arterisclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology says that brisk walking reduces the risk of heart disease by a greater amount (9.3%) than running (4.5%), when the same amount of energy was expended.
Dr Hemant Thacker, a consultant physician and cardiometabolic specialist, hails the results of the study. 'Rapid walking makes the heart muscles pump at a sustained rate as opposed to episodic rating which happens in the case of running, as the runner frequently changes his speed.' He also brings attention to the non-cardiac benefits of walking like fewer chances of injuries and muscle wear and tear. 'As age advances, running abilities tend to fade but walking remains evergreen,' he says. Read more on walking...
With inputs from IANS
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