Age is just a number – and so is your daily steps total

Your fitness tracker might be lying to you.

- writes Jack McNamara, senior lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at the University of East London.

That 10,000-step target flashing on your wrist? It didn't come from decades of careful research. It came from a Japanese walking club and a marketing campaign in the 1960s, writes Jack McNamara, senior lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at the University of East London.

A major new study has found that 7,000 steps a day dramatically cuts your risk of death and disease. And more steps bring even greater benefits.

People hitting 7,000 daily steps had a 47 per cent lower risk of dying prematurely than those managing just 2,000 steps, plus extra protection against heart disease, cancer and dementia.