The True Magic Number: Forget 10,000 Steps - This Is Your New Science-Backed Goal
The New Target: A major new analysis suggests the optimal "sweet spot" for health is 7,000 steps per day, replacing the traditional 10,000-step goal.
Big Benefits: Reaching this target is linked to significantly lower risks of premature death (by 47%), dementia, depression, and heart disease compared to taking only 2,000 steps.
Start Small: You don’t have to hit the maximum immediately; benefits are seen with as few as 4,000 steps, confirming that every step counts toward better health.
For decades, 10,000 steps per day has been the unofficial, aspirational target for many people, though this figure lacked a clear evidence base. A new, comprehensive review and meta-analysis published in The Lancet sheds light on this, suggesting a more realistic, science-backed number to aim for - which is actually lower.
Why step counts matter
Movement is essential for overall health. Insufficient activity is known to cause several health implications such as cardiovascular disease (CVD, or heart and blood vessel diseases), diabetes, some cancers, and premature death. Nevertheless, one in three adults worldwide don’t move enough, with the trend stagnant or even worsening.
To understand the relation between steps and health, the study was comprehensive. Analysis included 57 studies with 35 distinct long-term groups of participants from several countries, going beyond the traditional focus on all-cause death rate and cardiovascular disease-related deaths. They additionally checked:
cancer and related deaths
type 2 diabetes
dementia
experiencing depressive symptoms
falls
Furthermore, the researchers compared the risks across outcomes up to 12,000 steps per day
The sweet spot: 7,000 steps per day
The key finding is that 7,000 steps per day was associated with clinically meaningful risk reductions across most outcomes, compared to a reference of 2,000 steps per day.
The risks of health outcomes continued to get lower with every additional 1,000 steps. The difference in risk reduction between 7,000 steps and a higher step count was not statistically significant for many outcomes, including CVD mortality, cancer incidence, Type 2 diabetes, and falls.
More importantly, even a modest count was associated with lower risk. For example, 4,000 steps per day compared to 2,000 steps already showed a substantial lower risk in all-cause deaths.
So really, every step counts.
A personal note: Important caveats to keep in mind
While it certainly can be said that walking is healthy, there are some factors that have to be considered regarding this study and need further investigations:
Association vs. causation: A cause and an association are not the same. It cannot be stated that walking directly influenced these outcomes, but it likely did so indirectly by supporting an overall healthy lifestyle.
Lifestyle factors: It did not specifically take into account that people who walk on a general basis often engage in an overall healthier lifestyle, such as diet, sleep, and stress reduction. However, these habits turn into a self-enforcing positive cycle - walking outside leading to reduced stress, leading to less stress-related harmful eating habits.
Need for age-specific targets: No age-specific analysis was performed. However, the number of participants studied is very high, assuming that many people of each age group are sufficiently covered and that the guideline provided here is a great overall, general target.
Practical ideas to get your steps in
While it’s great to go for a scheduled walk every day, it’s not always suitable. Life gives us many opportunities to increase our steps naturally:
Park farther away from the store entrance and walk the lot.
Get off the bus or subway one stop early and walk the rest of the way.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
Pour your morning coffee into a thermo cup and take it for a short morning stroll around the block instead of scrolling on the phone.
Skip one TV episode and go for an after-dinner digestion walk.
Walk, reader, walk - every step counts!
Final thoughts
Despite these limitations, this study gives a solid general guideline and finally a science-backed magic number to target: 7,000 steps per day.
And while it might not be approachable every day, keep in mind that every. step. counts.
Happy walking to your health.
References
Ding et al. (2025). Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis. The Lancet Public Health. (Accessed 25.11.2025)
Hi, I’m Alexandra!
I’m a trained molecular biologist (Dr. sc. ETH Zurich) and medical writer passionate about bringing science to the people - because knowledge should be accessible to everyone in a clear, understandable way.
Learn more about me here.