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, based on the new findings, people had not yet bounced back as of December 2021: U.S. adults were still taking around 700 fewer steps per day, compared to their pre-pandemic norm.
"It was really surprising to see that kind of impact over a year-and-a-half into the pandemic," said senior researcher Dr. Evan Brittain, a heart disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn
Physical activity is key in staving off weight gain and keeping up cardiovascular fitness levels -- which, in turn, lowers the risk of developing serious health conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.