People who walked more were less likely to die of any cause or contract a number of serious health outcomes, including depression and dementia, according to a new meta-analysis published by The Lancet Public Health.
The past decade “has seen a rapid advancement in the evidence surrounding step counts,” wrote Ding Ding, Ph.D., M.P.H., at the University of Sydney, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues. “[Studies] consistently found that higher daily step counts are associated with better health outcomes. However, most reviews focused on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease, leaving gaps in our understanding of the associations between step counts and other health outcomes, such as cancer and cognitive function.”
Ding and colleagues identified 57 studies published between January 2014 and February 2025 involving adults who used devices to assess their daily step counts. Results were correlated to participants’ health outcomes.
Compared with 2,000 steps per day, 7,000 steps per day was associated with a 22% lower risk of depressive symptoms and a 38% lower risk of dementia. In addition, the higher step count was also associated with a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality, a 37% lower risk of cancer mortality, a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease incidence, and a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Researchers also found that even modest step counts of 4,000 steps per day were linked to better health compared with 2,000 steps per day.
The limitations of this meta-analysis included the small number of studies available for many outcomes, a lack of age-specific data, and the fact that most data were derived over several days, which might not align with long-term step counts recorded by consumer wearables over months or years.
“Although 10,000 steps per day—an unofficial target for decades without a clear evidence base—was associated with substantially lower risks for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence, cancer mortality, dementia, and depressive symptoms than 7,000 steps per day, the incremental improvement … was small, and there was no statistical difference between 7,000 steps per day and a higher step count for all the other outcomes,” the researchers wrote. “Therefore, 7000 steps per day might be a more realistic and achievable recommendation.”
For related information, see the Psychiatric News article “Higher Daily Step Counts Yield Fewer Depression Symptoms Among Adults.”
(Image: Getty Images/iStock/Ivan Rodriguez Alba)
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