Tracking steps in an era of fitness monitors and smart watches is easy but 20 years ago in central Queensland it took a whole-of-community approach to take the public along on the now widely adopted 10,000 Steps Project.

Central Queensland University’s Corneel Vandelanotte, lead researcher behind the program, said when it began as a two-year trial in Rockhampton in 2001, the team had no idea how well it would catch on develop real staying power.

“Everyone was involved,” Mr Vandelanotte said.

“The GPs, the supermarkets, the pharmacists, local councils. It was everywhere.”

“The initial project was so popular that the Queensland government decided, ‘We want to keep this going, but we want you to roll it out to the entire state’.

“That’s when the program morphed into an online program.”

Key points:

• From local beginnings, the 10,000-steps promotion has become a byword for all-ages activity
• Nationally, it has amassed 280 billion steps, 225 million kilometres and more than half a million members
• The project received a boost during the pandemic with 60,000 new members signing up

Source
Katrina Beavan
ABC News