The powerful presence of pedometers: A simple matter of wearing one

With the 10,000 step initiative now widely spread and acknowledged as a veritable means to improve health and decrease weight, the biggest challenge has become finding ways to get people to walk more. In order to investigate whether merely wearing a pedometer has any significant effect on the number of steps taken daily, a group performed a meta-analysis of 26 prior studies of pedometer usage.

The 26 studies compiled for the meta-analysis utilized a total of nearly 2,800 adult outpatients. The average age of subjects was 49 and 85% of those involved were women.

Results showed that the pedometer-wearing groups, on average, increased their daily steps by 2,491 (a 27% boost in activity) compared to control groups which did not wear a pedometer. Additionally, when participants using the pedometer set a specific daily step goal, activity increased at an even greater rate. The specific health benefits for pedometer-wearers noted in the study were both a lowering of body mass index (BMI) and a drop in systolic blood pressure that averaged 4mm/Hg. Reductions in systolic blood pressure of only 2mm/Hg have been shown to cut stroke mortality risk by 10% and risk of death by vascular causes by 7%.

Evidently, one of the most direct routes to walking more steps is acquiring and wearing a pedometer. The motivational and influential effects of clipping the small device on a waistband or pocket present themselves here, with the pedometer-wearing class being more conscious of their step count, and therefore more driven to succeed in increasing daily steps.

-As reported in the February '08 edition of Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter

-By Greg Gargiulo