How many steps do you really need in a day?

Experts said the most surprising finding was the nearly 40% lower risk of dementia in people who walked 7000 versus 2000 steps a day. Photo / Jim Wilson, The New York Times

A new study identifies the right number to reap the health benefits of walking.

Walking 10,000 steps a day has long been a fitness cliche. But new research suggests that the health benefits of walking ramp up until about 7000 steps – before levelling out. And as daily goals go, that’s a little more attainable.

The analysis, published this month in the medical journal The Lancet Public Health, examined data from 57 studies and found that even moderate amounts of walking were associated with a lower risk of dementia and cardiovascular disease, among other conditions, adding to a wide body of research tying walking to longevity. People who walked 7000 steps a day (about 4.8 kilometres) also had a 47% lower risk of death compared with those who walked 2000 steps, the analysis found.

“It is just as important to walk 7000 steps a day as it is to take your pills,” said Dr Joshua Knowles, a cardiologist at Stanford Health Care.

The many benefits of walking

Decades of research shows that walking improves metabolic health, making the heart stronger and more efficient while also reducing weight, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, said Keith Baar, a physiologist at the University of California, Davis.

While most scientific reviews have looked at how higher step counts are linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease and death, the new analysis examined associations across a much broader range of conditions. For example, the study found that walking 7000 steps a day was associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, depressive symptoms and cancer death, when compared with 2000 steps.

Experts said the most surprising finding was the nearly 40% lower risk of dementia in people who walked 7000 versus 2000 steps a day. While the exact mechanism isn’t clear, exercise is linked to new neuron growth, greater blood flow to the brain and less neurological inflammation, said Dr Nikhil Palekar, the director of the Stony Brook Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease.

“Getting up and moving has got to be the top priority,” Knowles said.

The myth of 10,000 steps

For decades, 10,000 steps was touted as the magic number for good health. But the recommendation is more myth than science, and researchers have debunked it in recent years.

“We don’t have any evidence for 10,000 steps,” said Melody Ding, an epidemiologist at the University of Sydney School of Public Health and the lead author of the new study. “It’s just a really big random number that people throw out there.”

The analysis found that there was no significant difference in the risk of falls, cancer, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular mortality between people who walked 7000 versus 10,000 steps per day. There was some improvement beyond 7000 steps for the risk of dementia and death, although it was small, Ding added.

The health benefits of walking are like juicing an orange: the first few squeezes give the most juice, but after a while, things start to dry up. In the study, increasing from 2000 to 4000 steps a day was associated with a 36% lower risk of death, while going from 4000 to 7000 was linked to a 17% lower risk. The gains flatten further beyond that.

Higher step counts are not harmful, said Hannah Arem, an epidemiologist at MedStar Health Research Institute in Washington – but nobody needs to feel guilty if they can’t hit 10,000.

Moving, even a little bit, matters

The new data only shows a correlation and cannot prove that walking caused these health benefits. After all, people who walk more tend to be less frail and eat better, potentially muddying the results, said Dr Seth Martin, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The specific risk reduction for dementia should also be interpreted with caution, since it was based on just two studies.

Experts also say that intensity still matters. So, on your daily walk, consider adding lunges, picking up the pace or choosing a route with hills or stairs.

Regardless, the evidence is overwhelming that “any steps are good steps”, Martin said. And while not everyone can remember how many minutes they’ve exercised, almost everyone can track their steps over time with their smartphone.

“If you improve your step count, you are impacting your health across the board,” he said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Written by: Simar Bajaj

Photograph by: Jim Wilson

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