Monday, 19 October 2026 Updated 8 min ago
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Is it true that … you need to take 10,000 steps a day to be healthy?

The fitness benchmark has surprisingly unscientific origins – yet it does contain more than a kernel of truth The idea that we need to walk 10,000 steps a…

Image accompanying the story: Is it true that … you need to take 10,000 steps a day to be healthy?
Image: Illustration: Edith Pritchett/The Guardian · via The Guardian

The Guardian reports that the fitness benchmark has surprisingly unscientific origins – yet it does contain more than a kernel of truth The idea that we need to walk 10,000 steps a day originated not in medical research but in a 1960s marketing campaign for a pedometer, says Jack McNamara, senior lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at the University of East London.

“When the research community looked into it, they found that there were health…

This health story centres on the United Kingdom. Names and organisations mentioned in the coverage include Jack McNamara and University of East London.

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Key details

Location
United Kingdom · Europe
Reported by
The Guardian
First reported
Key names
Jack McNamara, University of East London
Section
Health
Figure cited
The round number was easy to remember and the idea caught on, despite there being no scientific evidence for 10,000 steps as a specific threshold for health. (The Guardian)

Sources

This is an independent summary. Read the full, original reporting from the publisher:

Read the full story at The Guardian

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