Goodbye to 10,000 steps: Science sets a "more realistic" goal for walking to maintain your health.

It's well known that physical exercise has a positive impact on a person's overall health , and that taking a certain number of steps a day brings measurable benefits. The eternal debate centers on how many of these steps are necessary. Now, a new study suggests that 7,000 would be the key figure , a goal they claim is "more realistic."

To conduct this analysis, the scientists included 57 studies in this research, published this Thursday in The Lancet , 31 of which were used in a meta-analysis . They then observed an inverse relationship between the number of daily steps and a range of health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease , cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

This is how Melody Ding , co-director of the Sport and Physical Activity Research and Teaching Network and professor at the Sydney School of Public Health, explains, as well as one of the researchers: "Although the specific form of the relationship differs, the evidence from these results suggests that 7,000 steps a day is associated with a wide range of health benefits."

He also insists that a lower step count, around 4,000 a day , also provides significant positive health benefits. "Even if you can't reach 7,000 steps a day, increasing your step count can still offer benefits ," he adds.

But what if you set a goal to do more? In this case, Ding comments that while exceeding this limit brings additional health benefits, the return on investment begins to diminish. "It's important to note that more is not harmful and may even offer some additional benefits, so if you're already very active and do more than 10,000, there's no need to slow down and go back to 7,000," he says.

At this point, the scientist clarifies that counting steps is not just about walking , as it can include other activities that involve movements of the lower limbs, such as dancing, running, or some sports.

How much does it reduce the risk of dementia or depression?

This study focuses on the aforementioned studies, a significant proportion of which were from the United States (21) and the United Kingdom (12). It examines both all-cause mortality and certain pathologies, and compares them with taking 2,000 steps . These are the results obtained:

• All-cause mortality : nonlinear inverse relationship with a turning point at 5,391 steps per day. The reduction is 47%.
• Heart disease : nonlinear inverse relationship for both incidence, with a turning point at 7,802 steps/day, and mortality (5,422 steps/day). The reduction is 25%.
• Cancer : linear relationship for incidence and non-linear for mortality, with the inflection point at 4,974 steps per day and a 6% reduction.
• Type 2 diabetes : linear inverse relationship, with a 14% reduction.
• Dementia : non-linear relationship, with an inflection point at 8,829 steps/day and a 38% risk reduction.
• Depression : linear inverse relationship, with a 22% reduction.
• Falls : non-linear inverse relationship, with an inflection point at 8,846 steps/day and a 28% reduction.

Despite the results of this study, which is part of the update to the Australian physical activity guidelines for adults, it has certain limitations. "Currently, data are scarce for some of the outcomes, and most studies are based on Western samples. We hope to obtain more high-quality evidence from diverse populations, which will help us further examine differences, such as younger versus older adults and people with and without chronic conditions ," Ding summarizes.