10,000 Steps A Day May Actually Be Good For Your Health, Study Suggests

The long-held belief of aiming for 10,000 steps a day to improve heart health gains credibility from a new study. While the origin of this target remains unclear, possibly linked to a Japanese marketing campaign, research now suggests there might be truth to it.
A team led by Matthew Ahmadi from the University of Sydney, Australia, analyzed data from over 72,000 participants in the UK Biobank study. These individuals wore wrist-worn activity trackers for a week and were then followed for an average of nearly seven years. During this period, researchers documented over 1,600 deaths and 6,000 heart-related events.
After accounting for factors like diet, smoking, and other forms of exercise, the study found that the sweet spot for daily steps appears to be between 9,000 and 10,000. Taking these many steps was linked to a significant decrease in both death risk (39%) and heart problems (21%).

This research adds weight to the idea of aiming for 10,000 steps for better heart health, although the benefits seem to plateau beyond this range.