Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

It turns out you probably don't have to walk the commonly recommended 10,000 steps a day to see health benefits. A 

 in the Journal of the American Medical Association followed 16,000 women over five years and found the benefits kick in and then peak at much lower numbers. 

"It's totally arbitrary," Dr. Jon Hallberg told MPR News host Tom Crann of the guideline. "There was a product that came out in Japan in 1965 and when you translate the title of this product into English, it's '10,000 steps meter.'"

University of Minnesota Physicians Mill City Clinic

 said a daily steps goal is still an effective and affordable way to stay active. To find out how many steps improve health, click play on the audio player above.

Health

Shows

All Things Considered

Tom Crann

Author

Dr. Jon Hallberg

Megan Burks

A new study says you can walk far fewer steps a day to see health benefits.

So you don't need 10K steps a day -- how many do you need?

Go Deeper.

Like this?