The well-known goal of 10,000 steps a day offers little health benefit compared to a target of 7,000 steps a day, concludes a new systematic review published by Australian researchers.
Yes, the authors say, walking 10,000 steps a day rather than 7,000 reduces the risk of death from all causes, cancer mortality, dementia, and depressive symptoms, in addition to decreasing the incidence of cardiovascular disease.
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However, they point out, “the incremental improvement beyond seven thousand steps per day was small, and there was no statistical difference between seven thousand steps per day and a higher step count for any other outcome.”
“The target of 10,000 steps is a great target, but it may not necessarily be the target that is necessary for everyone to achieve maximum cardiovascular benefits,” commented François Simard, a sports cardiology specialist at the Montreal Heart Institute.
The 10,000-step daily goal was never rooted in science. It likely emerged in the popular consciousness (and guilt) when a Japanese company dubbed its new pedometer “Manpo-kei” (Japanese for 10,000 step counter) in the mid-1960s.
The authors of the new systemic review combed through dozens of studies and meta-analyses involving tens of thousands of subjects. They came to three important conclusions:
– First, even a modest number of steps each day is associated with health benefits;
– Then, 7,000 steps per day are associated with considerable risk reductions for most outcomes, compared to the reference of 2,000 steps per day;
– Finally, although the risk continued to decrease beyond seven thousand steps per day, it reached a plateau for some results.
Generally, the authors continue, each additional thousand steps per day reduced health risks associated with different conditions a little more. For example, the risk of death from all causes for those who walked four thousand steps per day was 36 per cent lower than for those who walked 2,000; the reduction jumped to 47 per cent at seven thousand steps per day.
The bottom line, they say, is that even a modest number of steps each day is associated with a reduced risk, and “the message that every step counts for those who are able should be emphasized as a key public health message, regardless of the specific quantitative target.”
“This study confirms (…) that cardiovascular benefits don’t just occur at 10,000 steps, they start before that,” said Dr. Simard. “This tells us that there are benefits to starting to move.”
Even though a systemic review like this one by default brings together studies and analyses of uneven quality, he continues, the results suggest “that a target of seven thousand or seven thousand five hundred steps per day could very well be (…) in our clinical recommendations to try to get people out of a sedentary lifestyle and derive cardiovascular benefits from it.”
The risk with targets like “10,000 steps a day” or “at least three 20-minute sessions a week” is sending an “all or nothing” message to the population, said Dr. Simard.
When it comes to physical exercise, he recalled, “there is no threshold that allows us to have all the benefits at once.”
“The benefits are evident very quickly, within the first few minutes,” he said. “These targets are given to try to encourage people and demonstrate what is optimal. But I think there should always be a message underneath that, that well before that, you’re going to see benefits, you’re going to see benefits, and I hope that doesn’t discourage people.”
The message of this systemic review is therefore clear, says Dr. Simard: even people for whom a goal of 10,000 steps per day is not realistic at the moment must understand that even “only” 7,000 steps will bring benefits to their health.
Steps, like active minutes, are “easy to measure,” he said, and “it can be very motivating (…) to count steps and see progress throughout the day.”
“We mustn’t get discouraged,” concluded Dr. Simard. “We mustn’t tell ourselves it’s 10,000 steps or nothing at all. We’re not wasting our time. If I only have time to go for a 3,000-step walk, it’s worth it, we mustn’t get discouraged.”
–The findings of this analysis were published in the journal Lancet Public Health.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
