The Lancet Public Health: Aiming for 7,000 daily steps can reduce risk of chronic diseases, cognitive decline, and death, finds new study
The Lancet
A comprehensive new study analysing data from over 160,000 adults finds that walking approximately 7,000 steps per day is associated with reductions in the risk of several serious health outcomes, including all-cause mortality (47% reduction), cardiovascular disease (25% reduction), cancer (6% reduction), type 2 diabetes (14% reduction), dementia (38% reduction), depression (22% reduction), and falls (28% reduction).* Unlike earlier studies that mainly focused on heart health or overall death rates, this research, published in The Lancet Public Health journal, is the first to comprehensively examine how taking more steps per day can reduce the risk of several different health outcomes.
The study also revealed that even modest step counts (around 4,000 steps per day) are linked to better health compared to very low activity (around 2,000 steps per day). For some conditions, such as heart disease, health benefits continued to increase beyond 7,000 steps, but for most conditions, the benefits tended to level off. The authors highlight that 7,000 steps per day may be a more realistic target than the current unofficial target of 10,000 steps per day, particularly for those who are less active, suggesting that this target can still provide significant improvements in health.
The systematic review included 57 studies, of which 31 studies were included in meta-analyses, providing the most comprehensive evidence to date of the association between the number of daily steps and a wide range of health outcomes. The authors caution that the evidence for health benefits for most conditions, such as cancer and dementia, is supported by a small number of studies, meaning there is a low level of certainty for those results, and many of the studies included did not account for some confounding factors, like age or frailty, that could bias the findings.
The authors say that their study underscores the value of using daily step counts as a straightforward way to measure physical activity. They suggest these results could help shape future public health guidelines and recommendations, encouraging more people to track their steps as a practical way to improve their health.
Journal
The Lancet Public Health
Method of Research
Systematic review
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis
Article Publication Date
23-Jul-2025
Rethink the 10,000 a day step goal, study suggests
Walking 7000 steps a day can lower the risk of an early death by up to 47 percent
University of Sydney
- Walking 7000 steps a day can lower the risk of an early death by up to 47 percent
- Health benefits increased with every 1000-step increment up until 7000 steps, at which point the benefits began to taper off
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.
Led by Professor Melody Ding from the School of Public Health, the study was published in The Lancet Public Healthand analysed data from 57 studies from 2014 to 2025 that were conducted in more than ten countries including Australia, USA, UK and Japan.
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.
“Aiming for 7000 steps is a realistic goal based on our findings, which assessed health outcomes in a range of areas that hadn’t been looked at before,” said Professor Ding.
“However, 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.
“We 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.”
Health benefits at different step counts
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.
When compared with 2000 steps a day, researchers found that:
- Walking 7000 steps a day reduced the risk of death by 47 percent, which was almost identical to the benefit seen at walking 10,000 steps per day.
- Dementia risk dropped by 38 percent from walking 7000 steps a day, with only a 7 percent extra reduction at 10,000 steps.
- Risk of type 2 diabetes fell by 22 percent from walking 10,000 steps a day and reduced to 27 percent at 12,000 steps.
- Significant health improvements were seen when people increased their average daily steps from 2000 to between 5000 and 7000 steps.
“For people who are already active, 10,000 steps a day is great,” said Dr Katherine Owen, co-author and chief analyst of the study from the School of Public Health. “But beyond 7000 steps, the extra benefits for most of the health outcomes we looked at were modest.”
The researchers are working with the Australian government to use the evidence from this study to inform future updates to physical activity guidelines.
“Our research helps to shift the focus from perfection to progress. Even small increases in daily movement can lead to meaningful health improvements,” said Professor Ding.
Experts are calling for future studies to explore how step goals should vary based on age, health status and region, and to include diverse populations and longer-term data to strengthen the evidence. Professor Ding says this kind of detail is rare and will be useful for health practitioners when tailoring advice for patients.
-ENDS-
Journal
The Lancet Public Health
Method of Research
Systematic review
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis
Article Publication Date
23-Jul-2025
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