University of Sydney research shows 7,000 steps a day reduces array of serious health issues

With many people finding 10,000 steps a day too challenging, a new study from University of Sydney researchers has associated walking 7,000 steps a day with a reduced risk of serious health issues, including heart disease, dementia and cancer.

Although 10 000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 7000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a more realistic and achievable target for some.

Globally, insufficient physical activity, defined as not meeting the recommended 150 min per week of moderate-intensity physical activity (or 75 min of vigorous-intensity physical activity or equivalent combinations of both), is estimated to account for up to 8% of non-communicable diseases and billions of health-care expenditures and productivity losses every year. Unfortunately, one in three adults worldwide is insufficiently active, and there are concerning trends of stagnation or worsening in many countries.

Professor Melody Ding, the study's lead author and University of Sydney epidemiologist notes

"7000 steps is a good target because it's associated broadly with a wide range of health benefits. It's a lot more achievable for people."

Walking more than 7,000 steps a day can provide additional health benefits for some conditions, such as heart disease.

But for most health outcomes, "those benefits start to plateau" around 7,000 steps, co-author and biostatistician Dr Katherine Owen told ABC Radio National Breakfast adding "for a broad range of outcomes … we found 7,000 steps was the optimal number.”

According to the research, published in The Lancet Public Health, even a modest step count of 4,000 steps per day was linked to better health outcomes compared with 2,000 steps.

Professor Ding added "for those who are not very active or doing nothing, doing something is still good for you.”

Researchers examined data from more than 160,000 adults across 57 studies, in which participants wore step-counting devices such as fitness trackers.

"We know that physical activity is associated with a broad range of health benefits, and steps is just one way of capturing physical activity," Professor Ding advised.

The researchers found health benefits increased with every 1000-step increment, compared with low levels of activity.

But after 7,000 steps, these benefits tended to level off: the risk of all-cause mortality, for example, was almost the same at 7,000 daily steps as it was at 10,000.

The research team is working with the federal government to use the findings to inform Australia's national physical activity guidelines. But they also noted some limitations of the study.

While there was a wealth of data for the team to analyse some health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, there were only a few studies available for other health indicators, including falls and cancer.

The research team suggested the findings associated with these should be treated as "exploratory" instead of conclusive.

Professor Ding also noted that they were not able to investigate how the impact of daily step counts differed for different groups of people, such as those with a higher body mass index (BMI) or older individuals.

Professor Ding also suggested that older people might need even fewer than 7,000 steps to get significant benefits, but more research was needed to confirm this.

Access the study at www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(25)00164-1/fulltext

Image. Walking. Credit: pexels pripicart