Are 7,000 steps a day enough to see health benefits?

For the last few years, there has been an emphasis placed on accumulating 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy.

Now, a new study recently published in the journal The Lancet Public Health says that walking for only 7,000 steps a day can help reduce a person’s risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer, depression, and all-cause mortality.

Scientists also discovered that walking around 4,000 steps a day still offers more health benefits than people with very low activity and about 2,000 steps a day.

For this study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of studies conducted between 2014 to 2025 from 35 cohorts from PubMed and EBSCO CINAHL — including more than 16,000 adult participants — to look for correlations between step counts and eight specific outcomes:

• all-cause mortality
• cancer
• cardiovascular disease
• cognitive outcomes
• falls
• mental health outcomes
• physical function
• type 2 diabetes

“While we already know physical activity benefits health, public guidelines focus on total minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week, usually 150 to 300 minutes,” Melody Ding, PhD, professor in the Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health at The University of Sydney in Australia, and corresponding author of this study, explained to Medical News Today.

“However, many people track their activity by steps, a simple and accessible metric, but the popular 10,000-steps-a-day goal isn’t actually based on solid evidence. Our review sought to clarify how many steps per day are linked to meaningful health benefits,” she said.

Upon analysis, researchers found that study participants who walked about 7,000 steps each day were associated with a lowered risk for:

• all-cause mortality by 47%
• cancer by 6%
• cardiovascular disease by 25%
• dementia by 38%
• depression by 22%
• falls by 28%
• type 2 diabetes by 14%

“This study is important because step-counting devices are becoming so widely available that the general public wants to know what they should aim for,” Ding said.

“We know physical activity is beneficial for health, but it is generally harder for the general public to track how many minutes of activities they do every day (because the activities can be of short bouts and be incidental), therefore, it is critical for us to provide such needed evidence. The finding is important for informing future health guidelines and physical activity promotion strategies, setting goals and targets for individuals, etc..” she said.

Additionally, Ding and her team found that study participants who only achieved a modest step count of about 4,000 steps per day still had better health outcomes than participants who had very low activity at about 2,000 steps a day.

“Increasing step counts from 2,000 to 4,000 or 5,000 is still associated [with] health benefits, even if one doesn’t achieve 7,000,” Ding explained. “It is important, particularly for motivating those who are extremely inactive.”

“Any increase in daily steps, even modest ones like 4,000 steps, delivers health benefits compared to very low activity levels. When possible, targeting around 7,000 steps per day can substantially reduce risks for many chronic diseases and adverse health outcomes.”

— Melody Ding, PhD

“Higher step counts beyond 7,000 may add extra benefits, but the improvement rate slows,” Ding added. “Still, if you’re already very active and consistently hitting 10,000+ steps, keep it up — there’s no need to cut back.”

MNT spoke with Nissi Suppogu, MD, a board certified cardiologist and medical director of the Women’s Heart Center at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, CA, about this study.

Suppogu commented that this study is looking at overall steps — not necessarily steps during exercise, but steps throughout the day — making it an even easier target to achieve.

“Understanding the role of physical activity in health outcomes plays an important role in motivating patients to do something entirely on their own,” she explained. “We need to continue to empower the patients with knowledge and evidence about physical activity. Physical activity, or steps in this case, is something they can do at home, in their yard, on their street, in the office, by a park or path. They don’t have to make time or pay to go to a gym. There are no excuses. All you need to do is just get up and move!”

The new daily walking goal

“Understanding that a modest 2,000 steps a day affects their health and every additional step to getting to 7,000 steps daily yields significant benefits for several health outcomes. That knowledge can affect their attitude, as 7,000 steps seems more achievable than 10,000 steps daily — a magic number for health benefits when really it has no significant clinical evidence to support this pervasive claim.”

— Nissi Suppogu, MD

“This study confirms what we have been recommending, that physical activity is important for overall longevity and health,” Kelley said. “It also confirms that the activity does not have to be overly strenuous. We can observe benefits and decrease risk from participating in activities that do not require specialized equipment or a gym membership.”

“The more we can reinforce the message, the better,” he continued. “Conducting this type of research enables everyone, from individuals to medical practitioners and lawmakers, to develop treatment plans and programs centered on these lifestyle interventions.”

“Researching a variety of activities will allow individuals to choose from different physical activities and remove barriers to participation. When research shows the significant benefits of physical activity on longevity, it raises overall awareness of just how important it is to our overall health span,” Kelley added.

“This study provides evidence that there is a dose-dependent relationship with physical activity (walking in this case). There were some differences in how much different populations would benefit from the prescribed 7,000 steps. Identifying specific step ranges can help create customized care plans tailored to a person’s age, health, and physical fitness. However, there is a benefit from any increase in physical activity and it should continue to be recommended for all populations.”

— Kanwar Kelley, MD, JD