India, July 24 -- Keep walking towards good health. But it needn't be 10,000 steps daily, as health influencers and mobile apps advise. A new Lancet study suggests that 7,000 steps a day would do; the study also confirmed that walking does help in reducing the risk of death and cardiovascular disease by half, and the chance of developing type-2 diabetes, dementia and depression. Long walks have their own joys, though clinically meaningful improvements aren't greatly different - upping 7,000 steps to 10,000 steps offers only a 10% lower risk of all-cause mortality.

Much before science offered evidence of the benefits of walking, philosophers found in it a therapeutic activity, a cure for melancholy, an exercise to develop a sound mind. Ai...