{"id":422586,"date":"2026-05-03T00:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T00:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/422586\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T00:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T00:47:09","slug":"how-many-steps-you-can-take-daily-to-meet-australias-physical-activity-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/422586\/","title":{"rendered":"How many steps you can take daily to meet Australia\u2019s physical activity guidelines"},"content":{"rendered":"

A person\u2019s age is the most important factor in how many steps they need to see physical and mental health benefits, according to experts.<\/p>\n

While it was originally thought that 10,000 steps a day was the golden number for everyone, how old they are plays a huge part in how far they should walk to meet daily activity guidelines.<\/p>\n

The new 24-hour movement guidelines for all Australians, released in March, recommend both adults \u2014 aged between 18 and 64 \u2014 and older adults \u2014 aged between 65 and over \u2014 get 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day.<\/p>\n

This would equate to 3000 steps a day if you wanted to walk as your exercise of choice.<\/p>\n

Children and adolescents \u2014 aged between 5 and 17 \u2014 are recommended to get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day, which would equate to 6000 steps.<\/p>\n

\"HannahCamera IconHannah Munro runs a womens hiking group called SheHikes Perth. Pictured is Hannah (president) with Mikayla Goddard (Vice President) in Kardinya Justin Benson-Cooper Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper\/The Sunday Times<\/p>\n

The more steps the better the outcomes, according to 2025 University of Sydney research, which revealed when a person increased their daily steps from 2000 to between 5000 and 7000 steps there was significant health improvements, including the risk of death lowering by 47 per cent.<\/p>\n

Dementia risk dropped by 38 per cent from walking 7000 steps a day with only a seven per cent extra reduction at 10,000 steps.<\/p>\n

Cardiovascular disease risk decreased by 25 per cent while depression reduced by 22 per cent and risk of falls dropped by 28 per cent.<\/p>\n

Cancer risk also reduced by six per cent.<\/p>\n

Walking 10,000 steps was the most beneficial in reducing the chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 22 per cent, compared to 14 per cent if walking 7000 steps.<\/p>\n

University of Sydney Healthy Ageing theme leader Anne Tiedemann said walking was an easy way to stay healthy for a lot of Australians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalking is physical activity and we know that physical activity has massive benefits for physical and mental health,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental health issues and it promotes feeling good, sleeping better, and keeps your bones strong and muscles strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefits of doing walking as your physical activity is that it\u2019s very accessible. You can do it anywhere, it doesn\u2019t require a lot of equipment, apart from some decent shoes, and it\u2019s free.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of benefits in choosing walking as your physical activity to keep your body and your mind healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HannahCamera IconHannah Munro runs a womens hiking group called SheHikes Perth. Pictured is Hannah (president) with Mikayla Goddard (Vice President) in Kardinya Justin Benson-Cooper Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper\/The Sunday Times<\/p>\n

Depending on how fit you are, Professor Tiedemann said you can vary the intensity of walking to get your heart rate up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can vary the intensity of your walking by walking faster or using hills or stairs so there\u2019s ways we can increase the demand on the body to get those benefits continuing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For Hannah Munro, who created women\u2019s hiking group SheHikes Perth<\/a>, walking had both physical and mental health benefits.<\/p>\n

The hiking group meets every Saturday and usually walks between eight to 15 kilometres.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do gyming and yoga as well but hiking is my main form of exercise, I like that it\u2019s low impact,\u201d Ms Munro said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHiking fit is a different fit to any other fit. You definitely notice that you\u2019re far better for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found even when I was at university I would need to go hiking just to have a good mind reset.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the girls that join us for the hikes are university students and they notice the same thing \u2014 it\u2019s a good reset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiking has proven to be popular among Perth woman with more than 4000 people now following SheHikes Perth on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe launched the Instagram in July last year so we\u2019ve only been around for a wee bit but now we have 4000 followers, which is crazy,\u201d Ms Munro said.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, the community wanted something like this because, otherwise, it wouldn\u2019t have taken off like it has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Tiedemann reminded everyone that if walking isn\u2019t for you it is not the only answer to keep healthy and also to only walk if it\u2019s in a safe environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a goal for people to do a number of steps per day is good but it\u2019s not the only answer to improving our health with physical activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany types of activity are important and steps is just one way we can capture that.\u201d<\/p>\n