🚶 The 10,000 steps a day walking target that originated as a 1960s marketing slogan and has become received wisdom is unscientific, according to new research suggesting thousands fewer could still yield big health rewards. ⁠ ⁠ Scientists found the widely used goal was not necessarily the gold standard, as all-cause mortality fell by almost half for a 7,000-step walker compared with someone who completed just 2,000. ⁠ ⁠ The 10,000 number, dreamt up by Japanese company Yamasa to sell pedometers around the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, has become a popular physical activity aspiration as smartphone step counters have proliferated. ⁠ ⁠ _____⁠ ⁠ ⚕️ “The pedometer brand marketed well,” said Ding Ding, lead author of the study published in The Lancet Public Health on Wednesday. “I think it has great public health benefits — 10,000 is a nice round number, so it is suitable for goal setting — despite not being evidence-based.” ⁠ ⁠ The researchers analyzed data from more than 160,000 adults ...