How Many Steps to Take for Good Health?

走多少步才能保持健康？

Older women who walk a little over three kilometers each day might live longer than less active women of the same age， a new study suggests。

一項新的研究表明，每天步行三公里以上的老年女性可能比不那麼活躍的同齡女性壽命更長。

Many Americans hoping to stay healthy set a daily goal of 10，000 steps， or about eight kilometers。 They often have this goal because they are wearing electronic devices which set that target， note researchers in the United States。 Their findings appeared recently in the publication JAMA Internal Medicine。

很多希望保持健康的美國人會制定一個每日10000萬步的目標或者每天步行約八公里的目標。美國的研究人員指出，他們通常能夠達到這個目標因為他們戴著可設定目標步數的電子裝置。他們研究的發現近期發表在《美國醫學會雜誌》上。

But it is not clear how much intensity or speed matter when counting the health benefits of every step， the researchers write。 They add that 10，000 steps per day might not be the right goal for everyone。

研究人員寫道，但是還不清楚當計算每步的健康益處時，多大的強度或者多快的速度才會對人類產生影響。他們補充道每日一萬步可能並不是對於每個人來說都是合適的目標。

For the study， researchers observed 17，000 women， all in their early 70s。 They asked the women to wear accelerometers for at least four days。 Accelerometers are small devices that measure the number of steps and the intensity of movement。

對於這項研究，研究人員觀察了1萬7000名七十出頭的婦女。他們要求這些婦女至少戴四天的加速度計。加速度計是用於測量步數和運動強度的小型裝置。

The researchers followed up with the women much later， around 4。3 years later， on average。 Since the beginning of the study， 504 women had died。 Compared to women who took no more than 2，718 steps daily， the women who took at least 4，363 steps per day were 41 percent less likely to die。

在平均約4。3年後研究人員對這些女性進行了跟蹤調查。從研究開始到4。3年後，有504名女性已經去世了。跟每天走路不到2718步的女性相比，每天至少走4363步的女性可降低41%的死亡率。

“Even a modest amount of steps is associated with lower mortality，” said I-Min Lee， the lead writer of a report on the study。 She is a doctor with Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women‘s Hospital in Boston， Massachusetts。

“即使一個適量的步數跟更低死亡率也有關聯，”這項研究報告的主要作者I-Min Lee表示。她是哈佛大學醫學院和位於馬薩諸塞州波士頓的布里格姆婦產醫院的醫生。

The women who took more steps had “lower mortality rates until about 7，500 steps per day， beyond which no further declines were observed，” Lee told the Reuters news agency。

Lee告訴路透社通訊社稱，每天步數更多的人擁有更低的死亡率直到步數達到每日7500步以上，就沒有觀測到死亡率會繼續下降了。

“The rate of stepping did not matter in these older women； it was the number of steps that mattered。”This suggests that the number of steps， rather than intensity， may be more important for a long life among older women。

“在這些老年女性中，步行的頻率並不會起到很大的作用；步行的數量會產生很大的影響。”這表明對於老年女性來說步數比強度對長壽更重要。

The study had a few limitations。 For example， the researchers only measured women’s movements once， at the start of the study period。 It is possible that the women‘s behaviors changed over time。

這項研究有些侷限性。例如，研究人員只在研究的起始階段測量了一次這些女性的運動。很有可能女性的行為會隨著時間而改變。

Still， the results are “good news for older adults who may have difficulty walking at faster paces，” said Keith Diaz， a researcher at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City。 He was not involved in the study。

紐約哥倫比亞大學醫學中心的研究員基思·迪亞茲表示，“這些結果對於那些快走有困難的老年人是一個好訊息。” 他並沒有參與這項研究。

“Any walking is better than nothing，” Diaz said by email。 “With even small amounts of walking， your risk of death will be sharply reduced。”

“任何走路都比不走強，”迪亞斯在郵件上說。“即使步行數量很小，死亡的風險也會有很明顯地降低。”

“For those who have difficulty walking， other research shows that any form of aerobic activity provides health benefits，” he added。

“對於那些走路有困難的人來說，其他研究表明任何形式的有氧運動對健康都有益處，”他補充道。

“Swimming， bicycling， arm cranking or any form of activity that is continuous in nature will provide health benefits。”

“游泳、騎腳踏車、胳膊轉動曲柄或者基本特徵是持續不斷的任何形式的活動對健康都是有益的。”

I’m John Russell。

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