Research
Energy balance
Higher daily step counts (specifically >5,000 to >12,500 steps) are associated with a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic risk factors in cross-sectional studies.
Aiming for more than 5,000 steps a day is associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome. Reaching 12,500 steps offers even greater protection against cardiometabolic risks, according to large population studies.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Except for younger men, individuals who took >5000 steps per day had a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome than those who obtained fewer steps... younger men and women in the highest step category (12,500 steps per day) had a substantially lower prevalence of cardiometabolic risk
Why this rating
Based on large cross-sectional studies (NHANES, Australian cohorts), but lacks longitudinal causal proof.
Source
Step Counting: A Review of Measurement Considerations and Health-Related Applications
David R. Bassett et al. · Sports Medicine · 2016
DOI 10.1007/s40279-016-0663-1
narrative_reviewCited 458×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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