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Editorial
10,000 Steps Australia: a community-wide eHealth physical activity promotion programme
  1. Mitch J Duncan1,
  2. Wendy J Brown2,
  3. W Kerry Mummery3,
  4. Corneel Vandelanotte4
  1. 1 Faculty of Health and Medicine, School of Medicine & Public Health, Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
  2. 2 School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  3. 3 Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  4. 4 School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Mitch J Duncan, Faculty of Health and Medicine, School of Medicine & Public Health, Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia; Mitch.Duncan{at}newcastle.edu.au

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-097625

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    Background to the programme

    The programme originated from a landmark whole-of-community multistrategy intervention designed to increase adult physical activity in the regional city of Rockhampton, Australian in 2001–2003.1 The project used a social ecological framework, focusing on strategies that promoted physical activity at the individual, population, environmental and policy level. The two fundamental aspects of the programme are1: goal setting (10 000 steps per day) and2 self-monitoring (the use of a pedometer to track daily step counts). A project website (www.10000steps.org.au) allowed members to record their physical activity, and provided a platform for dissemination of project resources to workplaces and community groups.2 3

    Why does it work?

    The message is simple and clear

    The project name, with its distinctive logo (Figure 1) and tagline (‘every step counts’) provide a clear and prescriptive target for the physical activity ‘dose’.1 4 The intervention encourages participants to establish their baseline daily steps, and gradually increase activity to achieve the 10 000 steps a day target. Considerable evidence supports the use of …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors MJD, WJB, WKM, CV contributed to conceptualising the manuscript. MJD drafted the initial manuscript and WJB, WKM and CV all provided critical insight on the manuscript and contributed to the writing.

    • Funding 10,000 Steps is funded by the Queensland Government. The funder does not have any role in the programme’s development, implementation and evaluation.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval Central Queensland University Human Research Ethics.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.