Study: 8,500 Steps/Day Aids Weight Loss Maintenance

A new study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, Turkey, indicates that walking approximately 8,500 steps per day helps individuals with overweight or obesity maintain weight loss after dieting. Led by Professor Marwan El Ghoch of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy, the research synthesizes data from 14 randomized controlled trials involving 3,758 participants with an average age of 53 and a mean body mass index of 31 kg/m².

The trials, conducted in countries including the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and Japan, compared lifestyle modification programs that combined dietary counseling with increased walking against groups that dieted alone or received no intervention. In total, 1,987 participants followed the lifestyle programs, while 1,771 served as controls. Both groups started with similar baseline step counts of around 7,200 per day.

During the initial weight loss phase, averaging 7.9 months, the lifestyle group increased their daily steps to about 8,450, achieving an average body weight reduction of 4.39 percent, or roughly 4 kilograms. The control group showed no significant changes in steps or weight. In the subsequent...