A global study involving over 3,500 children shows preschoolers take around 18,000 steps daily, with significant differences based on income, geography, and gender, challenging assumptions about young children’s activity levels.
Children aged three and four are moving far more than many adults may assume, with a major international study finding that preschoolers take an average of about 18,000 steps a day. The research, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, drew on data from more than 3,500 children in 44 countries and was co-ordinated by the University of Wollongong in Australia through the Sunrise project.
The study used movement sensors worn around the waist for at least three days between 2018 and 2025. It found a weighted median of 18,542 steps a day, meaning half of the children recorded more and half recorded less. Three-year-olds averaged about 17,500 steps, while four-year-olds were closer to 19,000. The spread was wide: some children logged barely more than 1,000 steps, while the most active reached almost 29,800, showing just how uneven movement patterns can be even at this age.
The findings sit alongside World Health Organization guidance, which says children aged three and four should get at least 180 minutes of physical activity a day, including at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous movement. The WHO does not set a step target for this age group, and the Sunrise researchers avoided offering a universal figure of their own, saying factors such as sitting time and sleep patterns also shape young children’s behaviour. Earlier research has suggested that step counts in the range of 7,000 to 10,000 a day have been used as a rough benchmark when child targets are linked to adult guidance, but the Sunrise team argued that preschoolers need their own evidence base.
The study also found clear differences by income level and geography. Children in lower-income countries averaged about 23,000 steps a day, roughly 5,000 more than those in richer nations, while children in rural areas took around 2,000 more steps than those in cities. Boys were more active than girls at both ages measured, with the gap amounting to about 1,640 extra steps a day at age three and about 1,150 at age four. The researchers said the differences probably reflect early patterns in play, leisure activity and social expectations, and they suggested that efforts to encourage movement in early childhood should pay particular attention to girls and to children with higher body weight, who tended to record fewer steps.
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