International study: three- and four-year-olds walk about 18,000 steps a day

Young children move much more than many adults think: children aged three and four take around 18,000 steps a day on average.

That is the conclusion of an international study of more than 3,500 children in 44 countries, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. Data were collected between 2018 and 2025 using movement sensors worn by three- and four-year-olds around the waist for at least three days. The study, coordinated by the University of Wollongong in Australia, is called Sunrise.

The weighted median was 18,542 steps per day, meaning half the children recorded more than this number and half recorded fewer. The average number of steps for three-year-olds was about 17,500, while four-year-olds averaged close to 19,000 steps.

Differences between children were very large. Results ranged from about 1,100 steps at the low end to about 29,800 steps at the high end. Thus, the gap between a relatively inactive child and a very active child could exceed 25,000 steps in a single day.

More than 30 researchers involved in the Sunrise study wrote that physical activity in early childhood is essential for healthy growth and development. However, the researchers did not make an explicit recommendation for a specific number of steps for preschool children, noting that other factors influence movement behaviour. They suggested future studies link these findings, among other things, with sedentary time and sleep patterns.

The World Health Organization recommends that three- and four-year-olds have at least 180 minutes of physical activity spread throughout the day, with at least 60 minutes of that being moderate to vigorous intensity. WHO also has no specific step-count recommendation for adults. Based on physical activity recommendations for people aged 18–64, earlier studies have recommended children aim for between 7,000 and 10,000 steps per day.

The researchers found that children in low-income countries took about 23,000 steps per day on average—about 5,000 more steps than children in high-income countries. Children in rural areas recorded roughly 2,000 extra steps compared with children in cities.

European participants included, among others, Scandinavian countries, the United Kingdom, Spain and Poland. Relatively lower-income participating countries included India and Kenya, for example.

As in previous physical activity studies, this study also found a gap between boys and girls: three-year-old boys took about 1,640 more steps per day than girls of the same age, while the gap among four-year-olds was about 1,150 extra steps. The researchers attributed this likely to gender differences in play and recreational activities, as well as social and cultural influences that appear at this early age.

The research team suggested that strategies to promote physical activity in early childhood should pay particular attention to girls and to children with higher weight, who also record fewer steps.