Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 24: You may not need to hit the 10,000-step mark to stay healthy. A new global study published in The Lancet Public Health suggests that walking just 7,000 steps a day can significantly reduce your risk of developing chronic illnesses like cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cognitive conditions such as dementia and depression — and may even cut the risk of early death by half.

The sweeping meta-analysis, which reviewed data from 57 studies involving over 160,000 adults, found that walking approximately 7,000 steps daily led to meaningful improvements across a range of health outcomes:

• Cardiovascular disease risk reduced by 25%
• Type 2 diabetes risk cut by 14%
• Cancer risk dropped by 6%
• Dementia risk lowered by 38%
• Depression reduced by 22%
• Falls decreased by 28%
• All-cause mortality nearly halved (49%)

While the long-popular 10,000-steps-a-day goal has become a cultural fitness benchmark, researchers argue that 7,000 steps may be a more attainable and equally beneficial target — especially for less active individuals.

“Although 10,000 steps remain a solid goal for those who are already active, aiming for 7,000 steps a day offers significant health benefits and is a much more realistic target for the average person,” said lead author Prof Ding Ding of The Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney.

Importantly, the study also showed that even modest movement — such as 4,000 steps a day — was significantly better than a highly sedentary lifestyle. Health benefits tended to level off beyond 7,000 steps for most conditions, though some improvements continued for heart disease with higher step counts.

The authors noted certain limitations, including limited data for specific conditions like cancer and dementia, and insufficient age-specific breakdowns. However, the consistency of results across different populations strengthens the case for using step count as a simple, accessible tool for public health monitoring.

These findings could inform future public health guidelines, shifting the focus from rigid fitness goals to sustainable, realistic movement targets that encourage more people to stay active.

In short: you don’t need a gym membership — just a good pair of shoes and 7,000 steps a day to start transforming your health.