WEBVTT - Texting Triple Zero & The 10,000 Step Myth

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to a Mamma Mia podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, I'm Tamsin Rose with the latest from the Quickie Newsroom.

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<v Speaker 2>How many steps have you clocked today? Has your watch

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<v Speaker 2>told you to stand up and your smart ring implied

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<v Speaker 2>you're not doing enough? How many steps did you take today? Well,

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<v Speaker 2>a common belief is that 10,000 steps per day is

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<v Speaker 2>the optimal number to hit. We've all heard it. 10,000

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<v Speaker 2>steps a day is what we need to be doing

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<v Speaker 2>to stay healthy. But why? Well, if you'd believe it,

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<v Speaker 2>that's just an incredibly successful marketing campaign from about half

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<v Speaker 2>a century ago. So then why are we following this now?

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<v Speaker 2>And what's the latest thinking? Today, we lace up and

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<v Speaker 2>walk into the world of step science. But first, here

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<v Speaker 2>are your headlines for Wednesday, October 28. You could soon

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<v Speaker 2>be able to text emergency services in a bid to

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<v Speaker 2>improve and modernise the country's triple zero system. A text

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<v Speaker 2>response system will be tested by the country's triple zero custodian,

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<v Speaker 2>the body responsible for ensuring the emergency system works properly.

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<v Speaker 2>Communications Minister Annika Wells announced the trial this week and

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<v Speaker 2>said that if it was found effective, it would allow

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<v Speaker 2>people to contact emergency dispatchers when speaking on the phone

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<v Speaker 2>isn't safe or practical. The move was called for by

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<v Speaker 2>domestic violence services and welcomed by groups advocating for better

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<v Speaker 2>access for people with limited phone service. The option was

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<v Speaker 2>also recommended by a Senate committee in September that was

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<v Speaker 2>set up to look at failed triple zero calls following

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<v Speaker 2>the Optus and Telstra outages. The minister said the government

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<v Speaker 2>was working with industry, emergency service organisations and state and

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<v Speaker 2>territory governments to improve the system. The first person has

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<v Speaker 2>been convicted under new deepfake laws, but he's been spared

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<v Speaker 2>jail time after creating highly degrading and humiliating AI content

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<v Speaker 2>of a teenager. 20-year-old William Yates pleaded guilty in April

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<v Speaker 2>to two counts of creating sexual material transmitted without consent.

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<v Speaker 2>He was the first person prosecuted under federal laws introduced

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<v Speaker 2>in 2024 to combat adult deepfake pornography. In a South

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<v Speaker 2>Australian district court, Judge Anne Barnett sentenced Yates to two

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<v Speaker 2>years and three months prison, but the jail term was

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<v Speaker 2>suspended on the condition that he'd entered into a three-year

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<v Speaker 2>good behaviour bond. A proposal to let social media users

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<v Speaker 2>block infinite scrolling and force big tech to stop distressing

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<v Speaker 2>extremist and violent content has been backed by more than

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<v Speaker 2>a dozen democracy groups. Labor's Digital Duty of Care Act

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<v Speaker 2>is expected to pass the federal parliament's lower house, but

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<v Speaker 2>the Senate vote remains unclear. Under the proposal, social media

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<v Speaker 2>platforms would be forced to protect users under 18 from

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<v Speaker 2>content that promotes crime or eating disorders, pornography or misogynistic content.

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<v Speaker 2>On Tuesday, 15 advocacy groups urged politicians to pass the

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<v Speaker 2>Digital Duty of Care bill. Democracy Counts director Tom Mooney

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<v Speaker 2>said we should be able to connect online without constantly

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<v Speaker 2>being scammed. fed fakes or vulnerable people being left to

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<v Speaker 2>fend for themselves. Coming up, Jacinda Ardern has a new

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<v Speaker 2>job in Australia and exactly how many steps you should

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<v Speaker 2>be taking. Megan Markle is coming down under to co-host

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<v Speaker 2>Junior Masterchef. She announced the news that she would be

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<v Speaker 2>co-hosting the 2027 season after Channel 10 decided to reboot

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<v Speaker 2>the program after a six-year hiatus. The news comes in

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<v Speaker 2>the same week the Duchess of Sussex revealed she'd been

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<v Speaker 2>made aware that her estranged father, Thomas Markle Senior, had

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<v Speaker 2>been accused of possessing child sexual abuse images. Markle Senior

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<v Speaker 2>has denied possessing child sexual abuse images, calling the accusations

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<v Speaker 2>sick and a bunch of lies. And former New Zealand

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<v Speaker 2>Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has taken up a post at

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<v Speaker 2>a major university after moving to Australia. Ardern, who was

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<v Speaker 2>the Prime Minister from 2017 to 2023, will soon begin

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<v Speaker 2>guest lecturing, running masterclasses and mentoring students and researchers at

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<v Speaker 2>the University of Sydney. She's been appointed a Professor of Practice,

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<v Speaker 2>a part-time role for people with extensive leadership experience outside

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<v Speaker 2>of academia, and she'll be at the School of Public Health.

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<v Speaker 2>For the first time, Australia has an official daily step target.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's not 10,000. But let's rewind. In 2023, the

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<v Speaker 2>government sat down to redo the country's daily movement guidelines.

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<v Speaker 2>That's where they recommend what you do and how much

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<v Speaker 2>you move and exercise every day for optimum health. Despite

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<v Speaker 2>the common wisdom that we should all be doing 10,000

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<v Speaker 2>steps on the daily, this wasn't in the old guidelines.

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<v Speaker 1>There was a very overwhelming demand. interest from the community

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<v Speaker 1>and the stakeholders in terms of how about the steps

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<v Speaker 1>because you know when we say how many minutes of

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<v Speaker 1>moderate intensity or vigorous intensities activity one should do every

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<v Speaker 1>week it's actually something that unless you really actively track

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<v Speaker 1>with one of those it's very hard for people to comprehend.

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<v Speaker 2>Melody Ding is a professor of public health at the

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<v Speaker 2>University of Sydney and she was part of this group

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<v Speaker 2>trying to nut out what went into these new guidelines.

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<v Speaker 2>The team updating the guidelines ran a survey while they

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<v Speaker 2>were working on it. More than 70% of respondents said

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<v Speaker 2>they wanted a number of steps per day to aim for.

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<v Speaker 2>So Professor Ding set about working out the impacts of

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<v Speaker 2>steps on overall health.

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<v Speaker 1>I think people generally like step counts because they're so easy,

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<v Speaker 1>they're so understandable and it's so easy to communicate.

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<v Speaker 2>She did this with a massive study to get an

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<v Speaker 2>answer once and for all about just how many steps

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<v Speaker 2>we should be aiming for every day. but it's worth

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<v Speaker 2>understanding why we all think it's 10,000. I know that's

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<v Speaker 2>been a goal of mine for as long as I

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<v Speaker 2>can remember.

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<v Speaker 1>It actually came from a very successful commercial campaigns of

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<v Speaker 1>one of the first modern pedometers in Japan. So the

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<v Speaker 1>name of the model of the pedometer is actually translated

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<v Speaker 1>into English 10,000 steps. And that was in the 1960s.

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<v Speaker 1>And yeah, it was a very successful campaign, as you

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<v Speaker 1>can imagine. And then the Tokyo Olympic followed and the

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<v Speaker 1>That became sort of like a health promotion campaigns as well.

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<v Speaker 1>And then it's just being spread all over the world.

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<v Speaker 1>And because it is a very nice round numbers, it

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<v Speaker 1>just really caught on.

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<v Speaker 2>Didn't it just?

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<v Speaker 1>Tried to get 10,000 steps every day for 30 days.

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<v Speaker 2>But honestly, this challenge is a lot harder than I

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<v Speaker 2>thought it would be.

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<v Speaker 1>10,000 steps per day can improve your fitness.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, y'all, the results are in.

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<v Speaker 1>30 days ago, I started a challenge to walk.

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<v Speaker 2>For 10,000 steps for 30 days. So back to the study.

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<v Speaker 1>The outcomes we looked at were all-cause mortality, so that's

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<v Speaker 1>death from any causes, cardiovascular disease incident, cardiovascular disease mortality,

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<v Speaker 1>cancer disease and incident, and type 2 diabetes incident, and

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<v Speaker 1>also dementia, mental health, particularly anxiety and depression, and also

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<v Speaker 1>falls and musculoskeletal outcomes. So it's a broad range of

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<v Speaker 1>outcomes that are relevant to adults basically throughout their life.

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<v Speaker 2>And the results, which were published in the Lancet Journal

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<v Speaker 2>in July last year, found, well, it turns out 10,000

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<v Speaker 2>is not quite right.

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<v Speaker 1>The more steps you take, the better. So even at

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<v Speaker 1>the very low end, when someone was doing 2,000 steps,

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<v Speaker 1>if we can move that person to do 4,000 or

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<v Speaker 1>5,000 steps, we're already seeing quite a sizable decrease in

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<v Speaker 1>risk and improvement in health.

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<v Speaker 2>So even if you're not getting loads of steps now,

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<v Speaker 2>a moderate increase in the number of steps you're taking

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<v Speaker 2>could lead to a pretty significant increase in your health.

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<v Speaker 1>And for those who are doing more than just, you know, two,

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<v Speaker 1>three thousand and actually want to have an active target

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<v Speaker 1>so that they can track themselves, then we really recommend

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<v Speaker 1>7000 steps as a more achievable, more realistic goal for

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<v Speaker 1>many people.

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<v Speaker 2>This is the number that's now been added to the guidelines.

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<v Speaker 2>Professor Ding says that across all outcomes they were looking at,

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<v Speaker 2>7,000 steps saw a very sizable reduction in risk. And

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<v Speaker 2>if you're a busy bee and you're already doing more

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<v Speaker 2>than that, don't feel like this is a good reason

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<v Speaker 2>to plop down on the couch and call it a

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<v Speaker 2>day though. You're still getting a little extra benefit.

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<v Speaker 1>There's no point of reverting back to 7,000 because for

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<v Speaker 1>some outcomes there's still A small increase in health benefits

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<v Speaker 1>comparing 10,000 with 7,000. But what we're seeing is a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit of a levelling off. So there's a diminishing

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<v Speaker 1>return on investment. It doesn't hurt to do more if

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<v Speaker 1>one has the capacity and time to do that. But

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<v Speaker 1>if they don't, 7,000 steps is a very reasonable target.

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<v Speaker 2>The guidelines were finalised and published earlier this year. And

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<v Speaker 2>the addition of a step guide was the first of

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<v Speaker 2>its kind for Australia. They were added as a companion

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<v Speaker 2>recommendation to the main guide of at least 30 minutes

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<v Speaker 2>of moderate to vigorous activity on most days, plus muscle

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<v Speaker 2>strengthening on two or more days and balance exercises on

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<v Speaker 2>three or more days. So what are the benefits really then?

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<v Speaker 2>And is this the same at every age? Professor Ding

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<v Speaker 2>says that no matter what stage of life we're in,

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<v Speaker 2>physical activity is going to be good.

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<v Speaker 1>I often say that physical activity, basically, if you point

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<v Speaker 1>at any part of your body, physical activity pretty much

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<v Speaker 1>can be linked to improving the function there. Anything from

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<v Speaker 1>reducing all-cause mortality, adding more years to our life. Physical

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<v Speaker 1>activity is definitely, you know, it's a magic pill for

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<v Speaker 1>healthy longevity, not only in terms of quantity, but also

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<v Speaker 1>quality of life. And then in terms of our major

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<v Speaker 1>organs and systems involved, terms of cardiovascular system and metabolic system,

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<v Speaker 1>it's something that there is a lot of very consistent

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<v Speaker 1>evidence for.

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<v Speaker 2>So the experts say we should be exercising because it's

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<v Speaker 2>good for pretty much everything. And we shouldn't be too

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<v Speaker 2>picky about what that looks like. We should just be

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<v Speaker 2>finding something that works for us.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people might prefer walking on the beach. Other people

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<v Speaker 1>might prefer walking on the treadmill. Whatever you're doing, just

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<v Speaker 1>try to incorporate that into day-to-day living.

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<v Speaker 2>And while Professor Ding really gets her daily numbers up.

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<v Speaker 1>I think yesterday I got 15,000. The day before, I

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<v Speaker 1>might be 20,000. I definitely do more than 10,000. And

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<v Speaker 1>on top of that, I do, you know, cycling and

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<v Speaker 1>others that are not captured by steps. It's just the

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<v Speaker 1>lifestyle I choose. It's like a reinforcement for me because

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<v Speaker 1>I feel good when I'm active.

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<v Speaker 2>She knows that's not going to work for everyone. And

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of what we can manage is about what

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<v Speaker 2>our life looks like and the support around us. We

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<v Speaker 2>need to be in a place where we can walk

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<v Speaker 2>safely and we need to have enough time and energy.

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<v Speaker 1>It is not a panacea because we know that everything

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<v Speaker 1>else has to align. For example, you know, if someone

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<v Speaker 1>is working three jobs to make ends meet, having children

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<v Speaker 1>at home, it just, there's real world challenges.

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<v Speaker 2>And walking isn't physically possible for everyone.

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<v Speaker 1>The one caveat of step counting is that the inclusivity issue,

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<v Speaker 1>because we know that step counts is only relevant to

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<v Speaker 1>those who can walk, but physical activity still offers benefits

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<v Speaker 1>for those who are wheelchair-bound, for example. The physical activity message,

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<v Speaker 1>regardless of whether someone takes the steps or not taking

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<v Speaker 1>the steps, it's just important to emphasise that physical activity

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<v Speaker 1>benefits everyone, whether or not the person takes steps.

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<v Speaker 2>We've popped a link to the new guidelines in the

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<v Speaker 2>show notes. That's all for now. If you have a

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<v Speaker 2>topic you'd like us to discuss, our inbox is always open.

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<v Speaker 2>We're at the quickie at mamamia.com.au. And make sure to

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