FOR years, 10,000 steps a day has been hailed as the golden standard for staying active.
But now, a groundbreaking review suggests far fewer steps are needed – when trying to tackle depression at least.
Physical exercise has long been known to play a vital role in improving mental health and wellbeing.
However, this is the first study to investigate the benefit of step counts and find a link between the two.
Scientists from Spain analysed 33 studies involving nearly 100,000 participants.
They found that taking 7,000 steps a day reduces the likelihood of depression by 31 per cent.
The risk also decreased by a further nine per cent for every 10,000 steps a day, the study published in the journal Jama Network Open, found.
Here in the UK, one in four of us will experience a mental health problem each year, and depression is one of the most common.
Approximately 4.5 million people are currently living with the debilitating disease.
We all go through periods of feeling sad, angry or withdrawn from the world.
But with depression, these feelings persist over very long periods, to the extent that they significantly disrupt someone’s quality of life.
Participants in the study wore pedometers to track their daily steps and completed questionnaires to assess their mental health.
“Our results showed significant associations between higher numbers of daily steps and fewer depressive symptoms as well as lower prevalence and risk of depression in the general adult population,” the scientists from the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha wrote.
They said encouraging people to do at least 7,000 steps a day would be a good public health initiative “that has the potential to prevent depression”.
Experts caution that the findings don’t prove causation, but the study highlights the potential benefits of encouraging people to meet daily step targets.
“While it shows a clear association between higher step counts and lower depression symptoms, we can’t definitively say that walking more reduces depression, as most studies only looked at one point in time,” said Dr Brendon Stubbs, from King’s College London, who was not involved in the study.
“However, the findings align well with existing evidence about physical activity’s benefits for mental health.
“The encouraging message is that even modest increases in daily steps day can potentially reduce the risk of future depression.
Signs and symptoms of depression
You may feel:
- Continuously low or sad
- Hopeless
- Tearful
- Anxious
You may have:
- No motivation or interest in things, such as hobbies
- Suicidal thoughts
- Lack of appetite and energy
- Disturbed sleep
- Urge to avoid friends or socialising
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health problem, the following organisations have more information or can help:
Mind: mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
Rethink Mental Illness: rethink.org, 0300 5000 927
Samaritans: samaritans.org, 116 123
“We really do however need long-term randomised trials to test if this is causal.”
The goal of walking 10,000 steps a day became a social phenomenon in the mid-60s when a Japanese tech company launched the first-ever step-counting watch.
Since then, numerous studies have shown that this once-arbitrary target actually holds some value.
A 2023 US study revealed that walking between 6,000 and 9,000 steps a day can slash the risk of heart disease by up to 50 per cent compared to taking just 2,000 steps.
Meanwhile, another US team found earlier this year that 6,000 steps a day is the sweet spot for reducing the risk of an early death.
