A closer look at “The 10,000 Steps Myth: How a 1960s Pedometer Marketing Campaign Became a Global Fitness Ru”, exactly as the source publishes it. The Guardian Lifestyle Oct 19, 2026 • 7:00 AM The widely accepted goal of walking 10,000 steps a day for health has surprisingly unscientific origins, according to Jack McNamara, senior lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at the University of East London. The benchmark traces back to a 1960s marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer, not medical research. The round number was easy to remember and quickly caught on globally, despite lacking scientific evidence as a specific health threshold.
When researchers later investigated, they found that walking more does confer health benefits, so the figure wasn't dismissed as pseudoscience. However, the exact number 10,000 remains arbitrary. Studies suggest that benefits plateau at lower step counts, and even modest increases in daily steps can reduce mortality risk, especially for older adults. For the complete material, the listing points back to the source inside the network.