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10,000 Steps Rockhampton

Also: 10,000 Steps · Every Step Counts

“Every Step Counts”

Whole-community project in the regional Queensland city of Rockhampton (2002-2003) that used a '10,000 steps a day' theme, pedometers, local media, GP advice and walking-route signage to raise adult activity, evaluated against the comparison city of Mackay. It became Australia's national 10,000 Steps programme.

Years
2002–2003
Country
Australia
Budget
About AUD$20,000 paid advertising and event marketing, plus about AUD$50,000 in-kind marketing from local media and organisations (Brown et al. 2006)
Topic
Physical activity
Asks people to
Start
Strategy
Multi level communitySelf efficacySimple instruction
Channel
Clinical settingDirect mailEventsOutdoorPrintRadioTVWebsite
Audience
Adults

Evidence

Quasi-experimentalMixed

Random population surveys before (2001, n=2,089) and after (2003, n=2,379) in Rockhampton and comparison city Mackay. In Mackay the share 'active' fell 6.4 points (48.3% to 41.9%); in Rockhampton it held steady (41.9% to 42.8%, +0.9, 95% CI -3.2 to 5.0). Women in Rockhampton rose 5 points (95% CI -0.6 to 10.6); men fell in both cities. 94.9% of Rockhampton respondents had heard of 10,000 Steps vs 34.0% in Mackay; 18.1% vs 5.6% had used a pedometer (Brown et al. 2006; Eakin et al. 2007). The website-led national roll-out had 18,000+ registered users and about 100 workplaces and 13 communities adopting it by 2006 (Mummery et al. 2006).

Sponsor (who paid)

  • Queensland Health Foreign government, funder
  • Central Queensland University Academic, creator and evaluator
  • University of Queensland Academic, evaluator

Credits (who made it)

  • Wendy J. Brown Individual, 2001-2003 source
  • W. Kerry Mummery Individual, 2001-2006 source

Related campaigns

Sources

  1. Brown WJ, Mummery K, Eakin E, Schofield G. 10,000 Steps Rockhampton: evaluation of a whole community approach to improving population levels of physical activity. J Phys Act Health 2006;3(1):1-14 evaluation · 2006 · DOI 10.1123/jpah.3.1.1
  2. Eakin EG et al. Correlates of pedometer use: results from a community-based physical activity intervention trial (10,000 Steps Rockhampton). Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2007;4:31 evaluation · 2007 · DOI 10.1186/1479-5868-4-31 · PMID 17655770
  3. Mummery WK et al. Dissemination of a community-based physical activity project: the case of 10,000 steps. J Sci Med Sport 2006;9(5):424-30 evaluation · 2006 · DOI 10.1016/j.jsams.2006.06.015 · PMID 16890489
  4. Mummery WK, Brown WJ. Whole of community physical activity interventions: easier said than done. Br J Sports Med 2009;43(1):39-43 history · 2009 · DOI 10.1136/bjsm.2008.053629 · PMID 18981043

Research notes

Brown 2006 full text read (PDF from 10000steps.org.au); funding by Queensland Health from its acknowledgements; intervention ran January 2002 to June 2003. CQUniversity as creator inferred from authors' affiliations and the dissemination paper. Outcome tagged mixed: relative to the comparison city the effect is favourable, but activity in Rockhampton itself did not rise significantly.

Record cases/qld-10000-steps-rockhampton.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign