Walking just this many steps a day will slash risk of deadly diseases

Walking 7,000 steps a day could be enough to guard against various diseases, according to recent research. While the goal for many is to achieve 10,000 daily steps, it's easier said than done.

However, this new study suggests even fewer steps can still yield "sizeable" health benefits, including a decreased risk of dementia, heart disease and premature death.

Even a modest step count of 4,000 a day can offer benefits over very low levels of activity, the experts discovered. They did, however, note that "10,000 steps per day will still be better than 7,000 steps", with the higher step count leading to greater health advantages.

The study, spearheaded by academics from the University of Sydney in Australia, involved the analysis of data from numerous studies worldwide, including those conducted in the UK, involving tens of thousands of adults.

Those who walked 7,000 steps each day appeared to enjoy a protective effect against several diseases, including: a 25% lower risk of heart disease; a 14% reduced risk of type 2 diabetes; a 38% lower risk of dementia and a 22% reduced risk of depression.

The researchers also found that individuals who walked 7,000 steps daily, compared to those walking just 2,000 steps, were 47% less likely to die during the follow-up periods of the studies analysed.

While the number of steps walked did not influence the likelihood of developing cancer, those who walked more had a 37% lower chance of dying from the disease compared to less active individuals.

"Although 10 000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 7,000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a more realistic and achievable target for some," the researchers penned in Lancet Public Health.

They continued: "Even modest daily step counts were associated with health benefits.

"7,000 steps per day was associated with sizeable risk reductions across most outcomes, compared with the reference of 2,000 steps per day."

Dr Daniel Bailey, Reader - Sedentary Behaviour and Health at Brunel University London, commented on the findings: "The finding that doing 5000-7000 steps per day is an important addition to the literature which helps to debunk the myth that 10,000 steps per day should be the target for optimal health.

"This study suggested that 5000-7000 steps per day can significantly reduce the risk of many health outcomes, but that does not mean you cannot get benefits if you don't meet this target.

"The study also found that health risks were reduced with each 1000 extra steps per day, up to a maximum of 12,000 steps per day. So just adding more steps from your starting point can have important benefits for health."

Dr Andrew Scott, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology at the University of Portsmouth, contributed: "In most cases the 10,000 steps per day will still be better than 7,000 steps, just by decreasing margins of health benefit return."

He emphasised that rather than obsessing over the precise step count, the key takeaway is that generally, more activity is always preferable, and individuals shouldn't dwell too much on the numbers, especially on days when their activity levels are low.

"The steps per day is useful when people's exercise is weight-bearing, however cycling, swimming and rowing are not well-represented by the steps per day model."