If you wear a fitness tracker, there’s a good chance you’re counting your steps. There’s also a good chance that your daily goal is to reach 10,000 — the magic number that seemed to appear out of thin air. That number does have an origin, but it didn’t come from health studies or scientific research.
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The idea of walking at least 10,000 steps a day actually comes from a Japanese marketing campaign launched decades ago to promote a pedometer. Companies in the United Stated adopted the idea more recently to help promote their own fitness trackers. So, if the number 10,000 wasn’t scientifically determined, how many steps should you actually aim for each day? Researcher I-Min Lee of Brigham and Women’s Hospital set out to find an answer.
Lee and her colleagues designed a study that included around 17,000 women with an average age of 72. Each participant wore devices to track their steps. The study showed that women who took around 4,000 steps per day had a longevity boost, compared to women who took fewer steps. Women who took 4,400 steps per day on average were around 40% less likely to die in the next four years, compared to women who took 2,700 steps.
Researchers were surprised to find that the benefits of walking also “maxed out” at a certain number. Women who walked more than 7,500 steps per day did not see an additional boost in longevity. In other words, according to this study, the “magic number” is between 4,400 and 7,500 steps per day.
Researchers did point out that the study only measured walking. It didn’t measure other healthy activities the women may have been participating in, like gardening, biking or swimming, which could have also had an impact on the results.
If you’re aiming for 10,000 steps a day, don’t let this study discourage you from reaching your goal. While it’s encouraging that fewer steps can increase longevity and offer health benefits, extra steps certainly won’t hurt! Take care of your body by staying active and eating a healthy diet and it will thank you by giving you a few extra happy, healthy years to enjoy.