A new study by Japanese and American scientists shows that walking one to two days a week, with a number of steps exceeding 8000, can significantly reduce the risk of premature death. The relevant research was published in the latest issue of the online public edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. In this study, researchers at Kyoto University and the University of California, Los Angeles, analyzed daily walking data from 3100 American adults collected between 2005 and 2006, and checked their mortality data 10 years later. Of these participants, 632 did not walk 8000 or more steps a day, 532 walked 8000 or more steps a week from one to two days, and 1937 walked 8000 or more steps a week from three to seven days. The results showed that those who walked one or two days a week and took 8000 or more steps had a 14.9% lower risk of death within 10 years than those who had never reached this level of walking. People who walk 8000 steps or more three to seven days a week have an even lower mortality rate, 16.5% lower than those who have never reached this level of exercise. In addition, for participants aged 65 and older, walking 8000 steps or more two days a week seems to have higher health benefits. The research team pointed out that these findings suggest that walking only a few days a week may have significant health benefits. (Liao Xinshe)