Walkable neighborhoods -- with sidewalks, parks and paths -- encourage pregnant women to get more exercise, which leads to good outcomes for both mom and baby.

New research looks at the influence of these walkable communities on this activity, which is considered safe for pregnant women.

If you're one of the millions of folks bent on racking up at least 10,000 steps a day, read on.

A new study finds that heart health starts to improve with as few as 2,300 steps a day. The research also indicates your risk of dying from any disease starts to decrease with only about 4,000 daily steps.

However, the more daily steps you get, the bigger the benefit becomes, the stu...

It seems obvious that texting and walking can be a dangerous duo, but now a new Australian study offers solid evidence of the dangers.

Emergency room doctors Dr. Michael Levine and Dr. M...

Wearable devices like smartwatches continually track physical activity, urging folks to take more daily steps for their health.

Now, a new study suggests this gentle technological nagging could be of great benefit to people whose hearts are giving out.

Heart failure patients who get between 1,000 and 5,000 steps a day have significantly improved symptoms and fewer physical limitatio...

More than 7,500 people were killed last year after being struck by vehicles while walking along or across U.S. roadways -- the most pedestrian deaths in more than four decades, according to a new report.

This sobering trend was not surprising to experts who track the numbers. But they were dismayed by the consistent increase -- up 77% since 2010.

"This is unacceptable. It's really m...

Walking your dog gets you moving and out in the fresh air, but head injuries and fractures are very real possibilities, especially for older dog owners, researchers say.

The most common injury from walking a leashed dog that sends folks to the ER is fractured fingers, a new study from Johns Hopkins University found.

But traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are the second-most common inj...

For those who want to get active but feel that joining a gym or exercising on a daily basis is a bridge too far, new research may have found the sweet spot: walking.

After stacking the walking habits of 3,100 adults up against a decade's worth of health outcomes, investigators concluded that those who logged roughly 8,000 steps in a single day -- even if only just one day a week -- r...

A new study hones in on what part of your brain controls walking.

Researchers discovered that two main regions of the cortex were activated as people moved in various ways through an environment. But the occipital place area (OPA) didn't activate during crawling, while the second region, the retrosplenial complex (RSC), did.

RSC supports map-based navigation, according to the resear...

Problems walking and talking or thinking at the same time might be a warning sign of impending dementia, a new study suggests.

Being unable to juggle two tasks simultaneously has been recognized as a sign of mental (or "cognitive") decline after age 65, but this research shows that the ability actually starts to fall off in middle-age. The finding could spur calls for earlier screening, r...

If you feel like the pandemic made you a permanent couch potato, a new study shows you're not alone: Well after lockdown measures were relaxed, many Americans were still taking fewer steps each day.

Researchers found that, on the whole, Americans' daily step count plummeted at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 -- an understandable decline that prior studies have charted.

However...

New moms who live on tree-lined streets may be somewhat less vulnerable to postpartum depression, according to a new study -- the latest to link "green space" to better mental health.

The study, of medical records from more than 415,000 new mothers, found that those living in u...

While the idea of getting 10,000 steps a day is bandied about as a good walking goal, that can be intimidating to some people, depending on how fit they are.

Now, new research in adults between the ages of 70 and 90 finds that a much smaller number of steps can make a difference in heart health.

It's possible, according to researchers, that just 3,000 steps a day has benefit...

A brisk 11-minute daily walk can help you live longer, a new University of Cambridge study reports.

Researchers found that 75 minutes a week -- 11 minutes daily -- of moderate-intensity physical activity is enough to lower a person's risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.

The investigators estimated that 1 in 10 early deaths could be prevented if everyone got that amount of exerc...

If you're over 40, regular exercise may not only keep you fit -- it might keep you out of the hospital, too, a large new study suggests.

Researchers found that among nearly 82,000 British adults, those who regularly exercised were less likely to be hospitalized for various health conditions in the coming years. The list included such common ills as pneumonia, stroke, diabetes complication...

Want to stay healthy well into your golden years? Grab a bag of clubs and hit the green, new research suggests.

Golfing beat walking or even Nordic walking (a full-body workout that consists of walking using specialized poles) when it came to improving several key measures of heart health in the small study.

"The results of this study are meant to encourage older adults to spend mor...

It's clear that staying active is key to being healthy, and fitness trackers and smartwatches have become popular tools for tracking activity.

But just how many steps does someone need to take to lose weight?

That's not such a simple a question.

While evidence is limited on exactly how many steps a day it takes to lose weight, experts say to get about 150 to 300 minutes of m...

Starting a walking routine is simple because it requires so little: comfortable, supportive walking shoes and your own two feet.

Unlike gym workouts, the initial expense is small and the schedule is flexible.

"Walking's a great way to work out because we can integrate it into our daily lives,"said Aman...

A lot of people wear watches that count their every step as they try to move more.

Now, a new study finds that getting more of those steps each day, along with moderate-to-vigorous physical exercise, could cut the risk of dementia and thinking impairments for women.

For women aged 65 or older, each additional 31 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associat...

Move your body every day to guard against type 2 diabetes.

That's the upshot of a new study that analyzed Fitbit data and type 2 diabetes rates from participants in a nationwide research program, reporting that women who logged more steps each day had a lower risk of diabetes.

"We investigated the relationship between physical activity and type 2 diabetes with an innovative approach...

Taking a quick walk or doing squats after you eat may help you retain muscle mass as you age, new research suggests.

So-called "activity snacks"-- short bouts of exercise -- may help maintain muscle mass and quality by allowing your body to use more amino acids from food, explained study author Daniel Moore, an ...

Taking that often-cited 10,000 steps a day -- or even slightly fewer -- may indeed be enough to improve your health, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among 6,000 middle-aged and older adults, those who got at least 8,000 to 9,000 steps daily had reduced risks of developing an array of conditions over seven years. The list included obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep ...

Wearing a fitness tracker may help you get more steps in -- even if you never give it a glance.

A new study found that folks who wore a pedometer averaged 318 more steps a day than those who didn't, even without specific