In the 1960s, in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics, the pedometer was first marketed as a fitness device. One Japanese company developed a product called 10,000 steps - translated into English. Decades later, the default setting on smart-watches and health apps is this magic number. But there's really no medical reasoning for its introduction.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/news-and-features/is-10000-steps-a-day-a-myth