You don’t need to walk 10,000 steps a day to achieve meaningful health benefits — 7,000 steps a day, about 3 miles depending on the length of your stride — will suffice, according to a new study out this week in a major medical journal.

“Although 10,000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 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,” researchers wrote Wednesday in The Lancet Public Health.

Local physicians praised the study, and a few Long Islanders out exercising on a hot Friday made clear that getting in their daily walks was a priority.

Elisa Squatrito, 61, of Mount Sinai, said she walks two to three times a day and tries to do between 7,000 and 10,000 steps a day, using an app on her iPhone to keep track.

She was not surprised the study reflected 7,000 steps a day being a healthy amount to walk, and she said a pet helped to give her an incentive to walk every day.

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“I adopted the dog from the shelter so this way I could give her a better life, me a better life, and we could both exercise together,” Squatrito said.

The researchers found: “First, even modest daily step counts were associated with health benefits. Second, 7,000 steps per day was associated with sizeable risk reductions across most outcomes, compared with the reference of 2,000 steps per day. Third, even though risk continued to decrease beyond 7,000 steps per day, it plateaued for some outcomes.”

For instance, the research — called a meta-analysis — of 57 studies from Jan. 1, 2014, to Feb. 14, 2025, found “compared with 2,000 steps per day, 7,000 steps a day was associated with a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality … a 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease incidence … a 47% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality … a non-significant 6% lower risk of cancer incidence” but a “37% lower risk of cancer mortality.”

The analysis also found that 7,000 steps a day was associated with a “14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes … a 38% lower risk of dementia … a 22% lower risk of depressive symptoms … and a 28% lower risk of falls.”

Physicians told Newsday the study brought clarity to the issue.

“Ten thousand was a number so common in everyone’s mind, but this study really shows that 7,000 can get you where you want to be,” said Dr. Nikhil Palekar, director of the Stony Brook Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease, adding he was “impressed” with the report.

Despite some limitations, Palekar said, the analysis is “still the largest study that we have on this topic … So this is a good, important study. Seven thousand steps is enough to get the benefits so people don’t have to kill themselves.”

Dr. Theodore Strange, chair of medicine at Staten Island University Hospital and deputy executive physician of Northwell Health’s Western region, pronounced himself a “fan” of the analysis. “It’s a very good effort. … It’s a wonderful thing to show in evidence-based medicine.”

Strange added, “The other piece of this is, if you only achieve 5,000, it doesn’t mean that’s not good. It’s just not as good as doing 7,000. Doing something is better than nothing. The bottom line here: Exercise is a good thing.”