Pedometers aid healthy walking
Publication Date:20/11/2007
Using a pedometer to measure how much you walk can increase the amount of walking you do and reduce the risk of dying from a stroke, a big new study shows. The best results were for people who were given a goal of walking 10,000 steps a day, and who used a diary to record their daily total.
What do we know already?
Keeping active is an important part of staying healthy. Getting regular exercise can reduce your risks of a range of diseases, including cancers, heart disease, depression, diabetes and stroke.
But few of us take as much exercise as recommended. Most doctors recommend people take about half an hour of moderate exercise (which includes brisk walking) five days a week.
Some studies have tried using pedometers to encourage people to walk more. Pedometers are small measuring devices you clip to your belt. They count the number of steps you take. Some researchers recommend you aim for a certain number of steps per day, often 10,000 steps.
Although there have been lots of small studies looking at the use of pedometers, no-one had taken all the studies together to see how big an effect pedometers could have. The new study looked at the results of 26 good-quality studies to find out.
What does the new study say?
People using pedometers walked 2,000 steps (about a mile) a day more than they did beforehand. The average daily number of steps they took before they started using the pedometers was just under 7,500, so the additional number of steps was a big improvement overall.
In studies that compared people using pedometers they could see to people using sealed pedometers where they couldn't see the results, the people who could see their pedometer results walked nearly 2,500 steps more.
The increase in walking had direct effects on their health. People who used pedometers had lower blood pressure, and lost a small amount of weight. Importantly, the reduction in blood pressure was enough to cut their risk of dying from a stroke by at least 10 percent.
Tell me more about the study's findings
Looking at the studies individually, the researchers found that pedometers only helped people increase their walking when:
- They were given a goal (for example, told to aim for 10,000 steps a day)
- They used diaries to record how many steps they took each day.
If people were given the pedometers, but not given a goal to aim for or told to record their results, they didn't increase their walking.
The most important result for people's health was the reduction in blood pressure. On average, people's systolic blood pressure (the pressure when the heart pumps out blood) fell by 3.8 points. A drop of just 2 points can reduce the chance of dying from stroke by 10 percent.
People in the study also had a small reduction in their weight, measured by their body mass index (BMI). The average BMI at the start of the studies was 30, which is considered obese. After the studies, people who used pedometers had BMI scores 0.38 points lower. However, the reduction in weight didn't depend directly on the number of steps people had taken. So perhaps the people using pedometers were encouraged to make other changes, such as taking other exercise or changing their diet, as a result of using the pedometers.
Where does the study come from?
The study was carried out by researchers at Stanford University, Stanford, in California, US. It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, published by the American Medical Association.
How reliable are the findings?
The researchers looked carefully at all the studies about pedometers, and picked the best-quality ones. Although the individual studies were quite small, the overall results are likely to be reliable.
What does this mean for me?
Taking regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health. We know it can have a big effect on cutting your chances of disease, and also on how much you enjoy life. But it isn't always easy to fit exercise into a busy day. Increasing the amount that you walk can be a good way of doing this, without having to find time to go to the gym.
Many people find that having a target, and being able to see how you're doing, helps keep them motivated. This study shows that using a pedometer can be a good way of doing this.
Most of the people in the studies were women, with an average age of 49. They were mostly quite inactive at the start of the study. So we know this is a good way for women who don't get much exercise to become more active. We don't know whether the results would be as dramatic for people who already take a lot of exercise, who may already have quite a low risk of stroke.
What should I do now?
If you would like to increase the amount you walk but you're not sure how, you might want to invest in a pedometer. They are available from pharmacies, leisure centres and sports shops. Prices vary quite a lot and some are more accurate than others.
You might want to start by measuring how much you walk in an average day. Then you can set yourself a target above that. The usual advice is to aim for 10,000 steps a day. Recording your daily total may help you achieve your target. You can then make walking 10,000 steps part of your usual daily routine.
From:
Bravata DM, Smith-Spangler C, Sundaram V, et al. Using pedometers to increase physical activity and improve health. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2007; 298: 2296-2304.
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© BMJ Publishing Group Limited ("BMJ Group") 2007. All rights reserved
This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.
