Am I walking enough?

Monitoring number of daily step count

  • Nowadays, many electronic devices are equipped with built-in function to track the steps you take. For example, you can monitor how many steps you walk every day by using the following devices:-
  • - Smartphones
    - Wearable devices such as smart watches and fitness trackers
    - Pedometers/ step-counters
  • Counting your steps and monitoring your progress will motivate you to move more and strive for your step goal.

Start at your own pace and gradually increase to 10,000 steps a day

  • Taking into account available scientific evidence, overseas and international guidelines as well as the baseline daily step counts of local population, adults are recommended to gradually increase their daily step goal to 10,000 based on their own physical conditions, abilities, pace and individual circumstances.
  • Even if the goal cannot be achieved, any amount of walking is better than none.
References
  1. Hall KS, Hyde ET, Bassett DR, et al. Systematic review of the prospective association of daily step counts with risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease, and dysglycemia. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2020; 17:78.
  2. Lee IM, Shiroma EJ, Kamada M, et al. Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women. JAMA Internal Medicine 2019; 179(8): 1105-1112.
  3. Saint-Maurice PF, Troiano RP, Bassett DR, et al. Association of Daily Step Count and Step Intensity With Mortality Among US Adults. JAMA 2020; 323(12): 1151-1160.
  4. Hansen BH, Dalene KE, Ekelund U, et al. Step by Step: Association of device-measured daily steps with all-cause mortality – A prospective cohort study. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2020; 30: 1705-1711.
  5. Paluch AE, Gabriel KP, Fulton JE, et al. Steps per day and all-cause mortality in middle-aged adults in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. JAMA Network Open 2021; 4(9): e2124516.
  6. WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.