Young Children Take About 18,000 Steps a Day, International Study Finds

Children aged three and four take an average of about 18,000 steps a day, according to an international study that challenges perceptions of how much young children move.

The finding suggests that children at these ages are far more active than many adults assume, with their daily movement adding up to a substantial step count.

The figure is a daily average for the age group, rather than a total that every three- or four-year-old necessarily reaches.

The study’s central finding draws attention to the gap between adults’ impressions of young children’s activity and the amount of movement recorded in their daily lives.