You don't need 10,000 daily steps to impact your health: Study

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You’ve been told time and time again: Get in your daily 10,000 steps to stay healthy.

But do you really need to take that many steps to maintain a healthy body? According to a new study, about 7,000 daily steps is ideal, lowering the risk of such ailments as dementia, depression, heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

The study, which was published in The Lancet Public Health Journal, noted that 7,000 steps has an impact, ranging from a 6% reduction in cancer risk or a 38% decline in dementia. The 7,000 steps daily is also linked to a 28% risk reduction of falls.

The study details essentially “debunk the myth that 10,000 steps per day should be the target for optimal health,” Dr. Daniel Bailey, reader in sedentary behaviour and health at Brunel University of London, told news site Euronews.

Researchers tracked data from more than 160,000 people across 31 studies. The research revealed that people who averaged 4,000 daily steps had better health outcomes compared to people who led sedentary lives (who averaged 2,000 steps per day).

It turns out, the more people who walked, the better off they fared if they had heart disease. For other outcomes, however, health benefits appear to decline after approximately 7,000 steps per day, the study noted.

There are some limits to the study; however, most notably, findings on dementia and cancer are less certain because the referenced data came from only a few studies. Secondly, some of the studies referenced didn’t take into account other factors that affect health, such as age or frailty.

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Researchers say the findings in the study could be encouraging for semi-active people, as 7,000 daily steps may be more realistic for their lifestyle compared to the unofficial 10,000-step goal.

It’s recommended that adults complete at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, or 75 minutes of intense exercise once a week, per Euronews.