Think 10,000 steps is too much? Try 7,000 steps a day instead, as new research has suggested that could be enough to boost your brainpower and help protect against a range of different diseases, such as heart disease, dementia, depression and cancer. The target of 10,000 steps a day is thought to have begun as a campaign promoting pedometers in Japan, however research has suggested it could do some good for your health, too. So, what is recommended by experts? (Picture: Getty)

What do experts say?

The NHS recommends a brisk 10-minute walk a day, which they say has a lot of health benefits. However, the World Health Organisation says we need at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week (2 hours 30 minutes) or 75 minutes (one hour 15 minutes) of vigorous intensity activity a week, which should at least be spread evenly over 4 to 5 days a week. So, 7,000 steps a day may be a realistic and manageable way of hitting those targets and getting the health benefits of walking. Plus, it’s free (Picture: Getty)

What did the researchers do?

The researchers looked at data from more than 160,000 adults from 57 studies conducted between 2014 to 2025. This type of study is known as a meta-analysis, which analyses different studies to come to an overall conclusion about a topic. The studies were conducted in more than 10 countries, including Australia, UK, US and Japan. The aim was to look at the impact that different daily step counts have on the chance of dying from cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as the chance of developing diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia and depression (Picture: Getty)

What did they find?

The researchers found that walking 7,000 steps a day, compared to just 2,000 steps, reduced the risk of death by 47%, which was almost the same benefit as walking 10,000 steps per day. They also found that dementia risk dropped by 38% from walking 7,000 steps a day, and a further 7% from walking 10,000 steps. Risk of type 2 diabetes fell by 22% from walking 10,000 steps a day and reduced to 27% at 12,000 steps. Compared to walking 2,000 steps a day, 7,000 steps reduced the risk of cancer by 6% and depression by 22% (Picture: Getty)

Lead author Professor Melody Ding said: ‘Aiming for 7,000 steps is a realistic goal based on our findings, which assessed health outcomes in a range of areas that hadn’t been looked at before. However, for those who cannot yet achieve 7,000 steps a day, even small increases in step counts, such as increasing from 2000 to 4000 steps a day, are associated with significant health gain. We know daily step count is linked to living longer, but we now also have evidence that walking at least 7,000 steps a day can significantly improve eight major health outcomes - including reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and depressive symptoms’ (Picture: Getty)

Now, the researchers are working with the Australian government to use the evidence from this study to inform future updates to physical activity guidelines. Professor Ding said: ‘Our research helps to shift the focus from perfection to progress. Even small increases in daily movement can lead to meaningful health improvements.’ Experts are calling for future studies to explore how step goals should vary based on age, health status and region, and to include diverse populations and longer-term data to strengthen the evidence (Picture: Getty)

How long does it take to walk 7,000 steps?

This obviously depends on how fast you walk. According to Calculate.io, if you walk at an average speed of 3.2mph, or 5.1 km/h, which is around the average speed people walk, 7,000 steps should take around 1 hour and 4 minutes. Someone a little slower, at 2.5 mph will take around 1 hour and 21 minutes, and someone faster who walks at 4mph will take around 50 minutes (Picture: Getty)