From the Mailbag of The Hindu Weekly Magazine, April 27, 2008:
One of our readers, Mr.Manoranjan Rao, had a specific query regarding the article on walking we published in The Hindu, April 13, 2008. He wrote in to say, “It was with great pleasure that I read your excellent article on walking. I am rather surprised that you have not mentioned anything about the age except saying that a person above 40 needs medical clearance. What I would like to know is your prescription for the elderly. For example, I would like to know if the minimum of 10,000 steps per day also applies to senior citizens (above, say, 65). Or, would you recommend a different regiment for them?
Dr.Sheela Nambiar’s Reply:
Thank you for your response to my article. I think your query is very pertinent and I will do my best to answer it.
10,000 steps/day is not a magic number but only a guideline. As I mentioned, most of us adults cover only about 3000-4000 steps per day. There is no real body of research however that mandates 10000 steps. One study showed that taking 6000 steps was also good in preventing cardiovascular disease.
By and large
Taking under 5000 steps/day is indicati9ve of a “sedentary” lifestyle;
5000-7500 steps is indicative of a “somewhat active” lifestyle that includes adequate daily activity (such as household activities and some amount of exercise);
7500-10000 steps is indicative of a “fairly active” lifestyle;
10000 steps is indicative of an “Active” lifestyle;
More 10000 steps is considered “Highly Active”;
Children need more than 12000 steps per day.
The elderly need to first assess how many steps they currently walk and make gradual increments of about 10000 to 20000 steps per week. They may not ultimately be able to reach a 10000 steps per day mark, but the objective is more to increase activity. Even 6000 steps per day has been found to be adequate for elderly.
Grateful thanks to The Hindu, Dr.Sheela Nambiar and Mr.Manoranjan Rao.
One of our readers, Mr.Manoranjan Rao, had a specific query regarding the article on walking we published in The Hindu, April 13, 2008. He wrote in to say, “It was with great pleasure that I read your excellent article on walking. I am rather surprised that you have not mentioned anything about the age except saying that a person above 40 needs medical clearance. What I would like to know is your prescription for the elderly. For example, I would like to know if the minimum of 10,000 steps per day also applies to senior citizens (above, say, 65). Or, would you recommend a different regiment for them?
Dr.Sheela Nambiar’s Reply:
Thank you for your response to my article. I think your query is very pertinent and I will do my best to answer it.
10,000 steps/day is not a magic number but only a guideline. As I mentioned, most of us adults cover only about 3000-4000 steps per day. There is no real body of research however that mandates 10000 steps. One study showed that taking 6000 steps was also good in preventing cardiovascular disease.
By and large
Taking under 5000 steps/day is indicati9ve of a “sedentary” lifestyle;
5000-7500 steps is indicative of a “somewhat active” lifestyle that includes adequate daily activity (such as household activities and some amount of exercise);
7500-10000 steps is indicative of a “fairly active” lifestyle;
10000 steps is indicative of an “Active” lifestyle;
More 10000 steps is considered “Highly Active”;
Children need more than 12000 steps per day.
The elderly need to first assess how many steps they currently walk and make gradual increments of about 10000 to 20000 steps per week. They may not ultimately be able to reach a 10000 steps per day mark, but the objective is more to increase activity. Even 6000 steps per day has been found to be adequate for elderly.
Grateful thanks to The Hindu, Dr.Sheela Nambiar and Mr.Manoranjan Rao.
No comments:
Post a Comment