Just 7,000 steps a day significantly lowers mortality risk

The commonly cited 10,000-step target was invented by a 1960s Japanese pedometer marketing campaign — not medical research. A 2021 study in JAMA Network Open following over 2,000 adults found that 7,000 steps per day was the threshold at which all-cause mortality risk dropped substantially, with diminishing returns beyond that. For sedentary adults, the evidence suggests that increasing from 2,000 to 7,000 steps delivers far more health benefit than increasing from 10,000 to 15,000.

Source: Paluch et al., JAMA Network Open (2021)