Is 10,000 Daily Steps Fact or Fiction?

 

Does walking 10,000 steps per day elude you no matter how much you try to do it? Well, relax. 

There is no scientific evidence supporting 10,000 daily steps as a standard. In fact, this often-cited guideline originated as an ad campaign for a Japanese-made podometer. In 1965, Japanese company Yamasa Toki introduced their new step-counter, which they called Manpo-Kei. This translated into “10,000 steps meter” and they marketed their device with the slogan, “Let’s walk 10,000 steps a day.” Japanese walking clubs were fairly popular at that time and the idea of a 10,000-step target seems to have caught on because the slogan was catchy and people tend to like nice round numbers. The rest, as they say, is history.

Of course this is not to suggest that being sedentary is ok. It's just not. But what does the science suggest as a target for how much walking you should do to enjoy significant health benefits from it?

A recent study by University of Massachuestts Amherst physical activity epidemiologist Amanda Paluch and published in JAMA Network Open has the answer. She recently determined that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people’s risk of premature death from all causes by 50% to 70% — compared to that of other middle-aged people who took fewer daily steps. “You see this gradual risk reduction in mortality as you get more steps,” Paluch said. “There were substantial health benefits between 7,000 and 10,000 steps, but we didn’t see an additional benefit from going beyond 10,000 steps.”

If even 7,000 steps seems more than you can achieve, do what you can. Any walking will benefit your health. No kidding.