How many steps do you walk in a day? For the longest time, we’ve all been told that we need to hit 10-thousand daily steps to be healthy, but new research reveals everyone’s falling short. According to a new study, the global average is only 5,833 steps a day.
Researchers with PureGym analyzed step tracker data from around the world to see if anyone’s hitting that magic 10-thousand number and who’s getting closest.
- Denmark is getting the most steps in, with an average daily step count of 6,633. That’s nearly 14% more than the global average.
- Poland comes in second, with an average of 6,504 daily steps.
- Americans only walk an average of 48-hundred steps a day.
- The thing is, it wasn’t doctors or medical professionals that came up with that 10-thousand steps number, it was actually a marketing campaign.
- Before the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, a company was selling a pedometer, the Manpo-Kei. “Man” represents the number 10-thousand in Japanese, “po” means steps and “kei” means meter. Even all these years later, the number is still considered the ideal number of steps.
- But fitness experts point out that while the 10-thousand step goal can help encourage movement, it’s not the only metric that matters when it comes to physical activity.
The Top 10 Countries Taking the Most Steps Each Day
- Denmark – 6,633 average daily steps
- Poland – 6,504 average daily steps
- Sweden – 6,461 average daily steps
- Netherlands – 6,436 average daily step
- Switzerland – 6,364 average daily steps
- Australia – 6,179 average daily steps
- Belgium – 6,147 average daily steps
- Finland – 5,999 average daily steps
- Japan – 5,996 average daily steps
- Spain – 5,968 average daily steps
Source: Metro