Overview

• A Lancet Public Health meta-analysis of 57 studies involving over 160,000 adults shows that daily health improvements peak around 7,000 steps.
• Walking 7,000 steps per day is linked to a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality and substantial reductions in cardiovascular disease, dementia, type 2 diabetes and depression.
• Health gains rise with each extra 1,000 steps up to about 7,000, but additional benefits beyond that threshold are modest.
• Even modest activity—around 4,000 daily steps—delivers meaningful reductions in mortality and chronic disease risk compared with very low step counts.
• The 10,000-step benchmark traces back to a 1960s Japanese pedometer campaign and experts now favour realistic, tailored targets over rigid step quotas.