Do these figures mean anything?
Posted: March 7th, 2024, 9:53 pm
Yet another article about how walking can extend one's life expectancy - https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... tudy-finds
As someone who thoroughly enjoys walking a few thousand steps most days I'm more than happy to believe the conclusions reached, but as with many such articles I can't help wondering whether the statistics are actually meaningful.
The reason I'm sceptical is that I would expect that most people who walk several thousand steps a day are doing so consciously as a form of exercise.
People who take conscious exercise are by definition concerned about their health, and are therefore likely to take lots of other steps to enhance their longevity, such as getting plenty of sleep, limiting their intake of alcohol and unhealthy foods and so on.
It therefore seems to me that these other measures are just as likely to be the explanation for a longer life as accumulating lots of steps.
But as I've no real knowledge of statistics I accept that I may be missing something, so if I am kindly enlighten me
As someone who thoroughly enjoys walking a few thousand steps most days I'm more than happy to believe the conclusions reached, but as with many such articles I can't help wondering whether the statistics are actually meaningful.
The reason I'm sceptical is that I would expect that most people who walk several thousand steps a day are doing so consciously as a form of exercise.
People who take conscious exercise are by definition concerned about their health, and are therefore likely to take lots of other steps to enhance their longevity, such as getting plenty of sleep, limiting their intake of alcohol and unhealthy foods and so on.
It therefore seems to me that these other measures are just as likely to be the explanation for a longer life as accumulating lots of steps.
But as I've no real knowledge of statistics I accept that I may be missing something, so if I am kindly enlighten me