Just 7,000 Steps a Day Lowers Risk of Depression, Dementia, Mortality – Psychiatric News Alert – 2025-07-25

People who walked more were less likely to die of any cause or contract a number of serious health outcomes, including depression and dementia, according to a new meta-analysis published by The Lancet Public Health.

The past decade “has seen a rapid advancement in the evidence surrounding step counts,” wrote Ding Ding, Ph.D., M.P.H., at the University of Sydney, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues. “[Studies] consistently found that higher daily step counts are associated with better health outcomes. However, most reviews focused on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease, leaving gaps in our understanding of the associations between step counts and other health outcomes, such as cancer and cognitive function.”