{"id":992140,"date":"2026-11-13T03:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&#038;wetrend=11c550b3-2"},"modified":"2026-11-13T04:56:53","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T09:56:53","slug":"not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/","title":{"rendered":"Not 10,000: Scientists Have Found the Number of Steps a Day You Really Need to Stay Healthy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-991787\" src=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera.jpg\" alt=\"Walking\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" data-gz_credit=\"FatCamera\" srcset=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera-155x103.jpg 155w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>For years, 10,000 steps a day has been the magic number on every fitness tracker. But that goal was never based on solid science. A major review of data from more than 160,000 adults has found where the real benefits of walking begin to level off, and for many people, it is a much more reachable number.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<b>In short<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 10,000-step target originated in a Japanese promotional campaign, not in a scientific study, as NPR reported.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A review led by Melody Ding of the University of Sydney, published in The Lancet Public Health, analyzed data from more than 160,000 adults.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Around 7,000 steps a day, the benefits start to level off, though more steps are never a bad thing.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Where 10,000 steps came from<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The famous figure did not come from a laboratory. According to NPR, it originated in a Japanese promotional campaign and stuck around for decades, simply because it was round and easy to remember.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What the research found<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Researchers led by Melody Ding, a public health professor at the University of Sydney, pooled data from more than 160,000 adults around the world. Compared with people who took only 2,000 steps a day, those who reached about 7,000 steps had a nearly 50% lower risk of dying during the study period. Even going from 2,000 to 4,000 steps was linked to a risk nearly 36% lower.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;7,000 steps tends to be the range where there seems to be diminishing return on investment for increasing more steps,&#8221; Ding told NPR. In other words, the biggest gains come from moving from very little to a moderate amount.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mayo Clinic Minute: Walking is a step towards heart health\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7dPor-O50C4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><b>Other benefits linked to walking more<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At higher step counts, the review also found lower risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depressive symptoms and dementia. The researchers noted that some of these results are preliminary, because they rest on a smaller number of studies.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Age makes a difference<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Amanda Paluch, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has found that the benefits plateau earlier for older adults: around 6,000 to 8,000 steps a day for people in their 60s and older, compared with 8,000 to 10,000 for younger adults.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And speed matters less than you might think. &#8220;We actually don&#8217;t see an association once we consider the total number of steps,&#8221; Paluch said, according to NPR.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Should you stop at 7,000?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not if you already walk more. Ding says people who already reach 10,000 steps or more have no reason to cut back. And as William Kraus of Duke University put it: &#8220;Anything is better than nothing, more is better than less.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>How to reach your number<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Start from where you are, and add steps gradually rather than aiming for a big number overnight.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Split your walking across the day: a short walk after meals adds up quickly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pair walking with simple strength moves, like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-planks-not-squats-the-simple-wall-exercise-that-builds-upper-body-strength-after-60-25497\/\">this wall exercise for upper-body strength<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Choose gentle, regular movement, the approach <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/jane-fonda-88-swapped-intense-workouts-for-these-5-gentle-exercises-and-the-science-backs-her-up-25497-c1\/\">Jane Fonda now swears by<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The studies show associations between steps and health, not proof that steps alone cause these benefits. Still, the message is encouraging: you don&#8217;t need 10,000 steps to feel the difference. Every walk counts.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42690,"featured_media":991787,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[2723],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.5 (Yoast SEO v20.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Many Steps a Day Do You Really Need? Not 10,000 | Grazia USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The 10,000-steps goal came from a marketing campaign, not science. A review of 160,000 adults in The Lancet Public Health found the daily step count that really matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not 10,000: Scientists Have Found the Number of Steps a Day You Really Need to Stay Healthy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 10,000-steps goal came from a marketing campaign, not science. A review of 160,000 adults in The Lancet Public Health found the daily step count that really matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grazia USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-11-13T09:56:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Grazia Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/9cb20bfe5dfe65f4234b31a4bdcbbf86\"},\"headline\":\"Not 10,000: Scientists Have Found the Number of Steps a Day You Really Need to Stay Healthy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-13T08:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-13T09:56:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/\"},\"wordCount\":529,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"discop\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Wellness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/\",\"name\":\"How Many Steps a Day Do You Really Need? Not 10,000 | Grazia USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-13T08:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-11-13T09:56:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"The 10,000-steps goal came from a marketing campaign, not science. A review of 160,000 adults in The Lancet Public Health found the daily step count that really matters.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Not 10,000: Scientists Have Found the Number of Steps a Day You Really Need to Stay Healthy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\",\"name\":\"Grazia USA\",\"description\":\"Driving Tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Grazia USA\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/06\/grazia-usa.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/06\/grazia-usa.png\",\"width\":447,\"height\":447,\"caption\":\"Grazia USA\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/9cb20bfe5dfe65f4234b31a4bdcbbf86\",\"name\":\"Grazia Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1cbcdc1e6c9da65d4dd86c3b2c6839c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1cbcdc1e6c9da65d4dd86c3b2c6839c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Grazia Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/author\/usergrazia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Many Steps a Day Do You Really Need? Not 10,000 | Grazia USA","description":"The 10,000-steps goal came from a marketing campaign, not science. A review of 160,000 adults in The Lancet Public Health found the daily step count that really matters.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Not 10,000: Scientists Have Found the Number of Steps a Day You Really Need to Stay Healthy","og_description":"The 10,000-steps goal came from a marketing campaign, not science. A review of 160,000 adults in The Lancet Public Health found the daily step count that really matters.","og_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/","og_site_name":"Grazia USA","article_modified_time":"2026-11-13T09:56:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/11\/FatCamera.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/"},"author":{"name":"Grazia Staff","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/9cb20bfe5dfe65f4234b31a4bdcbbf86"},"headline":"Not 10,000: Scientists Have Found the Number of Steps a Day You Really Need to Stay Healthy","datePublished":"2026-11-13T08:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-13T09:56:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/"},"wordCount":529,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#organization"},"keywords":["discop"],"articleSection":["Wellness"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/","name":"How Many Steps a Day Do You Really Need? Not 10,000 | Grazia USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-11-13T08:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-11-13T09:56:53+00:00","description":"The 10,000-steps goal came from a marketing campaign, not science. A review of 160,000 adults in The Lancet Public Health found the daily step count that really matters.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/not-10000-scientists-have-found-the-number-of-steps-a-day-you-really-need-to-stay-healthy-25497-c1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Not 10,000: Scientists Have Found the Number of Steps a Day You Really Need to Stay Healthy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/","name":"Grazia USA","description":"Driving Tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#organization","name":"Grazia USA","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/06\/grazia-usa.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/06\/grazia-usa.png","width":447,"height":447,"caption":"Grazia USA"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/9cb20bfe5dfe65f4234b31a4bdcbbf86","name":"Grazia Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1cbcdc1e6c9da65d4dd86c3b2c6839c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1cbcdc1e6c9da65d4dd86c3b2c6839c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Grazia Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/author\/usergrazia\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Grazia USA","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/992140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/991787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=992140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=992140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}