„You need 10,000 steps a day for health.”

10,000 was the marketing number of a 1965 Japanese pedometer (Manpo-kei). Meta-analyses (Paluch 2022, n=47,471) show mortality plateaus at ~6,000–8,000 steps over 60 and 8,000–10,000 in younger people; the biggest gain lies between 2,000 and 6,000. Pace matters too: brisk steps count more. So: 10,000 doesn't hurt, but 7,000 already delivers 80% of the benefit.

Last reviewed: 6 September 2026

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