Walk your way to good health

Do you walk? Perhaps not as much as you should... A survey by Attitude Prévention* showed that between 2011 and 2016, French people walked an average of 7,889 steps every day. A figure that is growing (+386 steps between 2015 and 2016), but that remains far from the 10,000 the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends for keeping fit.

Attitude Prévention's repeated surveys from the last five years underline the same finding: French people are too sedentary. Even if the objective of 10,000 steps every day to stay in good health is being increasingly taken on board: one in every two people knew about it in 2016, compared to one in three in 2015.

Every step counts!

For the majority of French people, 3,000 extra steps a day are enough to reach the target set by WHO. Any opportunity to walk is therefore important. The main thing is not to fall into sedentary habits, to regularly take activity breaks to get away from computer screens or TVs. When possible, you should also forgo the car or bus and instead walk, take the stairs instead of the lift, do some gardening, some DIY... Just get moving!

What if you don't like walking?

Any activity can count towards your step tally: 200 for one minute of swimming or cycling, 100 for one minute of yoga... The rule is to count 1,000 steps per 10 minutes of moderate exercise or 2,000 for a more intense activity. So, it's time to do your sums or get a pedometer. The target set by the World Health Organisation is realistic and helps people of any age to get in better shape and improve their quality of life if they reach the daily goal.

* Survey by Attitude-Prévention-IRMES-
OpinionWay, 2016.