Walking 7,000 steps a day can help boost your brain power and protect against a range of diseases, says a recently published study in The Lancet Public Health journal. The researchers found that 7,000 steps were linked with a reduced risk of serious health issues, including cancer, dementia, and heart disease.

Findings encourage more people to track their steps as a practical way to improve their health. “We have this perception we should be doing 10,000 steps a day… but it’s not evidence-based,” said Dr. Melody Ding, the lead author of the published research.

How the 10,000 Steps Myth Came to Belief

This figure of 10,000 steps can be traced back to a 1960s marketing campaign in Japan. Just before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a brand of pedometer was launched called Manpo-kei, which literally translates to ‘10,000 step meter’. According to Dr. Ding, this figure was taken out of context and became an unofficial guideline used by many fitness trackers and apps even today.

The newly published Lancet study analyzed previous research and data on health by working on the activity of more than 160,000 adults around the world. It was found that compared to those who walked 2,000 steps a day, people walking 7,000 steps reduced the risk of:

• Cardiovascular disease by 25%

• Cancer by 6%

• Dementia by 38%

• Depression by 22%

Researchers also say that some figures can be less accurate than others, as they are drawn from a small number of studies. However, the overall review suggests that even a modest step count of around 4,000 steps a day is linked to better health compared to very low activity of just 2,000 steps a day.

According to the World Health Organization, adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity every week. However, Dr. Ding says that this advice can sometimes be difficult for people to understand, in spite of its important purpose.

“There are people who swim, cycle, or have physical disabilities that don’t allow them to take steps,” the doctor explains.

In this case, she recommends that the number of steps people should take be included as an addition that would prompt people to think about spreading their physical activities throughout the day. While 10,000 steps is a suitable goal for those who are more active, a total of 5,000 to 7,000 steps could be more realistic and achievable targets for others.

Dr. Daniel Bailey, a sedentary behaviour and health expert at Brunel University, London, states that the study challenges the myth that 10,000 steps a day is necessary. Dr. Andrew Scott, another senior lecturer in clinical exercise psychology at the University of Portsmouth, agrees that the exact number of 10,000 is not very important.