Why 7,000 steps a day, not 10,000, is a better target for the average person
Is 7,000 steps the new 10,000? For reducing mortality rates, it’s not a bad number for the average person to consider, experts say
How do you measure the value of a step? A common goal for many people over the last 60 years has been 10,000 steps a day for better health. The problem is that it is a myth decades in the making.
A team of researchers decided to figure out just how many steps a person should really take for better health, landing on around 7,000 for the general population. And, according to a doctor, it might actually be best to drop the step count altogether.
Philip Clare, a researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia who was on the study team, described the reasons for setting a more realistic goal.
“It’s not wrong to have a target that isn’t necessarily giving you the maximum benefit. We have a lot of this in public health where, ideally, we would like to set targets that are going to have a really good benefit.
“But if no one meets them, on a population level, it’s actually less beneficial. It’s going to be demoralising.”