Research

Energy balance

Higher objectively measured daily step counts are linearly associated with lower all-cause mortality in free-living adults, with increasing steps from sedentary levels to 10,000 per day reducing mortality risk by 46%.

To reduce your long-term mortality risk, focus on increasing your daily step count. If you are currently sedentary, aiming for 10,000 steps per day can reduce your risk of death by nearly half over a decade. You do not need high-intensity exercise; simply walking more throughout your day provides substantial protection.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Higher daily step count at baseline was linearly associated with lower all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio AHR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90 to 0.98 per 1 000 steps; P = 0.004). Increasing baseline daily steps from sedentary to 10 000 steps a day was associated with a 46% (95% CI, 18% to 65%; P = 0.004) lower risk of mortality in the decade of follow-up.
Terence Dwyer et al. · PLoS ONE · 2015

Why this rating

Large prospective cohort study (n=2,576) with long-term follow-up (>10 years) and objective measurement, though observational design limits causal inference compared to RCTs.

Source

Objectively Measured Daily Steps and Subsequent Long Term All-Cause Mortality: The Tasped Prospective Cohort Study

Terence Dwyer et al. · PLoS ONE · 2015

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0141274

cohort · n=2576Cited 241×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →