6 days ago
Counting the steps to staying in good health
Keep walking towards good health. But it needn't be 10,000 steps daily, as health influencers and mobile apps advise. A new Lancet study suggests that 7,000 steps a day would do; the study also confirmed that walking does help in reducing the risk of death and cardiovascular disease by half, and the chance of developing type-2 diabetes, dementia and depression. Long walks have their own joys, though clinically meaningful improvements aren't greatly different – upping 7,000 steps to 10,000 steps offers only a 10% lower risk of all-cause mortality.
Much before science offered evidence of the benefits of walking, philosophers found in it a therapeutic activity, a cure for melancholy, an exercise to develop a sound mind. Aitereya Brahmana advises in the Rig Veda: charaiveti, charaiveti (keep walking). The mantra tells us that the Sun is viewed with respect because it keeps moving: A man on the move gets to enjoy the nectar. So keep walking. Basho undertook long walks and distilled the experience in his haikus. In his Reveries of the Solitary Walker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a philosopher of the European Enlightenment, wrote: 'I have never thought so much, existed so much, lived so much, been so much myself… as in the journeys which I have made alone and on foot.'
In our crowded, vehicle-heavy times, how do we make our steps count? Spaces for walking are shrinking as habitations expand. Metros may have large parks, even urban forests. But tier-II cities now lack open spaces or parks. Footpaths could be an option for the morning/evening walker, but, wherever they exist, they are threatened by encroachments. A Supreme Court committee on road safety (2024) found that only 56% of Delhi roads had footpaths. The situation is no different in other cities. India's urban population is expected to double from 480 million in 2020 to 950 million by 2050, as per a recent World Bank study. An inexpensive way for them to stay healthy is to take up walking. State should oblige by building the infrastructure.
