According to a new study released Thursday in the journal The Lancet Public Health, taking just 7,000 steps a day can significantly lower your risk of death, a number of chronic diseases including diabetes and cancer, and cognitive problems like dementia and depression.

Walking roughly 7,000 steps a day is linked to lower risks of a number of adverse health outcomes, according to a thorough assessment that included 57 research and analyzed data from over 160,000 persons.

The 7,000 steps helped lower the risk of many conditions, including heart disease (by 25%), cancer (by 6%), type 2 diabetes (by 14%), dementia (by 38%), depression (22%), and falls (28%). The mortality rate from all causes was reduced by almost half.

Notably, the study pointed out that 7,000 steps a day would be more achievable, especially for those who are less active, even though the existing unofficial goal of 10,000 steps per day is still in place.

According to corresponding author Prof. Ding Ding of The Charles Perkins Centre at The University of Sydney in Australia, “7,000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a more realistic and achievable target for some, even though 10,000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active.”

In contrast to extremely low activity levels (about 2,000 steps per day), the study also showed that even modest step counts (approximately 4,000 steps per day) are associated with improved health.

The health advantages tended to level off for most disorders, but for some, like heart disease, they continued to rise after 7,000 steps.

The team did, however, note many limitations, including the paucity of accessible studies, especially in the areas of dementia and cancer, the lack of age-specific analysis, and biases at the individual study level.

However, according to the researchers, the results highlight the benefits of employing daily step counts as a simple method of measuring physical activity.

They contend that by encouraging more people to track their steps as a doable strategy to enhance their health, these findings may influence future public health guidelines and recommendations.