Do You Really Need 10,000 Steps a Day? Here's What Science Says

Daily step counts have become something of a modern obsession, with fitness trackers and smartphones logging every stride. Now, researchers are offering welcome reassurance to anyone who has ever fallen short of the magic number.

You've seen it all over social media: walking 10,000 steps every day is the key to staying fit and healthy. But have you ever wondered where that claim comes from? As it turns out, science tells a slightly different story.

While 10,000 steps remains the most widely touted goal for overall health, the benefits actually begin to kick in at a lower number.

According to the largest review of the evidence to date, people who walk 7,000 steps a day have a dramatically lower risk of a broad range of serious health problems.

"You don't need to hit 10,000 steps a day to get major health benefits," Paddy Dempsey, a study co-author and medical researcher at Cambridge University, told AFP. "The biggest gains happen before 7000 steps, and then benefits tend to level off."

Dr. Katherine Owen, a co-author and the study's chief analyst from the University of Sydney's School of Public Health, echoed that sentiment.

"For people who are already active, 10,000 steps a day is great," Dr. Owen said. "But beyond 7000 steps, the extra benefits for most of the health outcomes we looked at were modest."

So where did the famous 10,000 figure come from? Although it remains the most popular target for people tracking their steps, it reportedly originated from a 1960s marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer.

In search of a more scientific benchmark, an international team of researchers combed through 57 previous studies covering 160,000 people.

The results, published in the Lancet Public Health journal, revealed that walking 7,000 steps a day nearly halved people's risk of early death from all causes compared to walking 2,000 steps.

The study also examined health problems that earlier research into step counts had not covered. Walking 7,000 steps a day was linked to a 38 percent drop in the risk of dementia, a 22 percent reduction in depression, and a 14 percent decrease in diabetes.

While walking speeds vary widely from person to person, 7,000 steps adds up to roughly an hour of walking spread throughout the day.

Dempsey stressed that people already reaching 10,000 or more steps should keep up the good work. However, he had an encouraging message for anyone who might find 7,000 steps daunting: "don't be discouraged."

"If you're only getting 2,000–3,000 steps a day, aim to add an extra 1,000 steps. That's just 10–15 minutes of light walking spread across the day," he said.

The team that conducted the review is also working with the Australian government to help shape future physical activity guidelines based on the findings.

"Our research helps to shift the focus from perfection to progress," Professor Ding Ding of the University of Sydney, who led the study, said. "Even small increases in daily movement can lead to meaningful health improvements."

Andrew Scott, a researcher at the University of Portsmouth who was not involved in the study, noted the results of the study "demonstrates that overall more is always better."

He added, "People should not focus too much on the numbers, particularly on days where activity is limited." In other words, when it comes to walking, every step counts, even if the daily total falls short of 10,000.