Walking about 7,500 steps a day helps older women live longer, but walking more than that doesn’t seem to add any extra benefit.

52

Pro

20

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

52

Community contributions welcome

52

Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women.

Cohort Study

Human

2019 Aug 1

The study found that walking more helps older women live longer, but only up to about 7,500 steps a day—after that, more walking didn’t help much more.

Contradicting (1)

20

Community contributions welcome

20

The relationship between daily step count and all-cause mortality – umbrella review

Systematic Review

Human

The study shows that walking more—up to 8,000–10,000 steps a day—keeps giving health benefits, which means the idea that benefits stop at 7,500 steps isn’t supported.

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Similar Assertions

Older women who walk about 4,400 steps a day tend to live longer than those who walk only 2,700 steps. More walking is linked to lower risk of dying from any cause.

57

20

85%

Older people who take more steps every day—like walking around their neighborhood—live longer, and every extra 1,000 steps makes a noticeable difference.

39

0

85%

Older women who walk about 4,400 steps a day tend to live longer than those who walk only 2,700 steps, and walking more helps up to about 7,500 steps — after that, walking even more doesn’t seem to lower the risk of dying any further.

52

0

84%

If women in their 60s or older walk at least 4,000 steps just one or two days a week, they tend to live longer and have fewer heart problems compared to women who don’t walk that much at all.

53

0

83%

Walking more every day, especially between 8,000 and 10,000 steps, is linked to a lower risk of dying and a longer life.

20

0

82%