Overview

• A Lancet Public Health meta-analysis of 57 studies involving roughly 160,000 participants shows that walking about 7,000 steps daily reduces premature death risk by nearly 50% and lowers dementia, depression and diabetes rates by up to 38%.
• The entrenched 10,000-step target stems from a 1964 marketing slogan for a Yamasa pedometer rather than any scientific validation.
• Health benefits level off around 7,000 steps per day, with co-author Paddy Dempsey noting only marginal gains beyond that point.
• Experts warn that jumping immediately to 10,000 steps can cause muscle soreness and joint injuries and advise adding about 1,000 steps—10 to 15 minutes of walking—at a time.
• Tailoring goals to individual baselines supports WHO activity guidelines of at least 150 minutes of moderate‐intensity exercise per week, a threshold nearly one-third of adults worldwide fail to meet.