{"id":10499,"date":"2025-07-26T15:43:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T07:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=10499"},"modified":"2025-07-26T15:43:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T07:43:14","slug":"rethink-the-10000-a-day-step-goal-study-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/rethink-the-10000-a-day-step-goal-study-suggests\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethink the 10,000 a day step goal, study suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A major new study led by the University of Sydney suggests that walking 7000 steps a day offers similar health benefits across several outcomes as walking 10,000.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Led by Professor Melody Ding<\/a> from the School of Public Health<\/a>, the study was published in The Lancet Public Health<\/em><\/a>and analysed data from 57 studies from 2014 to 2025 that were conducted in more than ten countries including Australia, USA, UK and Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The largest and most comprehensive review to date, the researchers examined the impact that different daily step counts have on the chance of dying from cardiovascular disease and cancer, and developing diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia and depression. Professor Melody Ding says the findings offer a more achievable benchmark for people who struggle to meet traditional exercise guidelines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAiming for 7000 steps is a realistic goal based on our findings, which assessed health outcomes in a range of areas that hadn\u2019t been looked at before,\u201d said Professor Ding. \u201cHowever, for those who cannot yet achieve 7000 steps a day, even small increases in step counts, such as increasing from 2000 to 4000 steps a day, are associated with significant health gain.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe know daily step count is linked to living longer, but we now also have evidence that walking at least 7000 steps a day can significantly improve eight major health outcomes – including reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and depressive symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Health benefits at different step counts<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The researchers looked at studies in which participants wore step counting devices, such as pedometers, accelerometers and fitness trackers, to track their daily step counts. Starting at 2000 steps, experts compared the health outcomes of people walking more steps a day at 1000 step increments to see whether there was any difference in the risk of early death or other major diseases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When compared with 2000 steps a day, researchers found that: <\/p>\n\n\n\n