In fighting fat, pedometers count
Reported November 21, 2007
While loosening your belt after Thanksgiving dinner, you may want to clip a pedometer to it. The reason: Wearing a step-counter leads to weight loss and lower blood pressure, according to new research Tuesday that found a pedometer is an unusually good motivator to get people to walk more.
People who used a pedometer for 18 weeks walked an average of 7 additional miles weekly and shaved 0.4 points from their body mass index, a measure of body fat that considers both pounds and height. That decrease is the equivalent of 2.5 pounds for a 5-foot, 6-inch person with an initial weight of 195 pounds, according to the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The device “is a great little motivator,” said Stanford University internist and lead author Dr. Dena Bravata. “I never anticipated such a small intervention could have such a big effect.”
Two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese and more than half do not get the 30 minutes of daily exercise recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the report.
A pedometer, which can cost as little as $10, is an inexpensive tool to get people walking, researchers said. If 10 percent of U.S. adults began a regular walking plan, $5.6 billion in annual heart disease costs could be saved, according to the report, which was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging.
Bravata and colleagues from Stanford and researchers from the University of Minnesota analyzed results of 26 studies of pedometer use, with a total of 2,767 participants. Most were female, overweight and relatively inactive before they started their walking programs. The average duration of the studies was 18 weeks.
Nearly all programs included a step goal and diary. Many of the programs included physical activity counseling, and five were centered in the workplace.
Researchers found that those who wore a pedometer increased their activity by 27 percent, or by more than 2,000 steps daily, the equivalent of 1 mile.
Systolic blood pressure fell an average of 3.8 millimeters of mercury, a sizable improvement, because the blood pressure of participants in general was not that high, Bravata said. A reduction of 2 millimeters is associated with a 10 percent reduction in the risk of death from stroke and a 7 percent drop in the chance of cardiovascular death, according to the study.
Researchers found that participants who were given step goals or kept diaries increased their activity the most. Although most participants did not meet their goals, just having one to shoot for was a “potent motivator,” Bravata said.
Dr. Allan Abbott, a professor at the University of Southern California, who was not connected to the study, said the report “clearly shows the benefit of using pedometers as a motivator of physical activity.”
Sources: Dr. David Bassett Jr., University of Tennessee; Helen Thompson of America on the Move, Colorado; Teresa Vollenweider, New-Lifestyles Inc.