You’ve probably heard almost like a mantra that walking 10,000 steps a day is the ideal for maintaining good health, but it turns out that as few as 7,000 steps a day may be enough to significantly reduce the risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, dementia, and depression, in addition to helping you lose weight.
Official exercise recommendations typically do not include step counts. In the United Kingdom, for example, at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, are recommended for most adults. But perhaps it’s time to reexamine things.
Counting steps is really straightforward because it’s something that can be measured with wrist-worn pedometers or smartphones. It can be a very useful and accurate way to monitor physical activity. And if we accept that this is an almost perfect method to set up a results table, the next step is to determine how many daily steps are needed for this to translate into physical benefits.
Now, a new study has warned that even 7,000 steps per day could be sufficient to protect health. Scientists analyzed data from more than 160,000 adults and found that walking 7,000 steps a day was associated with a lower risk of several serious diseases and death.
Why 7,000 steps per day
While earlier studies have primarily examined the relationship between the number of steps and heart health or general mortality rates, this systematic review and meta-analysis, published in The Lancet, sought to thoroughly examine how taking more steps daily could also reduce the risk of other diseases.
Compared with those who walked 2,000 steps per day, the researchers found that reaching the target of 7,000 steps daily was associated with a 37% lower risk of dying from cancer, while the risk was 14% lower for type 2 diabetes, 38% for dementia, 22% for depression, and 28% for falls, respectively. It was also associated with a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality.
Woman running in a park.
Although the step count does not measure the quality or intensity of exercise, the findings underscore the importance of staying active. There is a return on investment for every 1,000 extra steps taken, and even 4,000 steps a day reduced disease risk compared with very low activity levels, according to the researchers.
Melody Ding, a public health professor at the University of Sydney and the study’s lead author, stated that those who already walk 10,000 steps a day should not lower that figure to 7,000, although the latter is a more practical target for those currently inactive.
The benefits of taking 7,000 steps per day at age 50
For those far from reaching 10,000 steps, taking 7,000 steps per day offers health benefits that are nearly comparable to the results examined. Therefore, this new research helps to debunk the myth that 10,000 steps per day should be the goal for optimal health.
The real implications are that people can gain health benefits simply by small increases in physical activity, such as taking 1,000 extra steps per day. To achieve the greatest risk reduction, a target of 5,000 to 7,000 steps per day is recommended, which will be more attainable for many people than the standard goal of 10,000 steps that has persisted for many years.
Walking regularly is one of the simplest ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle and reduce the risk of heart disease. And it’s really not that hard. Now, with this new research, it is known that 7,000 steps a day are enough to prevent and improve cardiovascular health at 50.
