7,000 Steps Per Day Tied to Clinically Meaningful Benefits in Health Outcomes

Benefits include lower risk for death and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia, and depression

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, July 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Seven thousand steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes, according to a study published online July 23 in The Lancet Public Health.

Ding Ding, Ph.D., from the University of Sydney, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate the prospective, dose-response relationship between daily steps and health outcomes, including all-cause mortality.

Based on 57 studies (35 cohorts), the researchers found that for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence, dementia, and falls, there was an inverse nonlinear dose-response association, with inflection points at around 5,000 to 7,000 steps per day. There was an inverse, linear association for cardiovascular disease mortality, cancer incidence, cancer mortality, type 2 diabetes incidence, and depressive symptoms. Based on 31 studies (24 cohorts) in the meta-analyses, compared with 2,000 steps per day, 7,000 steps per day were associated with a lower risk for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.53; I² = 36.3 percent; 14 studies), cardiovascular disease incidence (HR, 0.75; I² = 38.3 percent; six studies), cardiovascular disease mortality (HR, 0.53; I² = 78.2 percent; three studies), cancer mortality (HR, 0.63; I² = 64.5 percent; three studies), type 2 diabetes (HR, 0.86; I² = 48.5 percent; four studies), dementia (HR, 0.62; I² = 0 percent; two studies), depressive symptoms (HR, 0.78; I² = 36.2 percent; three studies), and falls risk (HR, 0.72; I² = 47.5 percent; four studies). With the exception of cardiovascular disease mortality (low), cancer incidence (low), physical function (low), and falls (very low), the evidence certainty was moderate for all outcomes.

“Although 10,000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 7,000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a more realistic and achievable target for some,” the authors write.