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Pedometers
Tested As Step to More Exercise
Can an inexpensive device that clips onto your belt and
tracks your steps really turn a nation of exercise slouches
into healthier, more active adults?
Some researchers think so, and so do the organizers of a
campaign called America on the Move, launched this summer
to encourage inactive Americans to clip on a pedometer and
log an extra 2,000 steps a day to start.
More recently, McDonald's has joined the party, passing
out pedometers with its Go Active Meal, now being test marketed
in Indiana.
The premise is simple: If your idea of exercise is changing
channels manually, grab a pedometer, clip it on, and try
to walk an extra 2,000 steps a day.
It won't turn you into a buffed person -- or even a super
fit one -- as the organizers of the America on the Move
program concede. But it's meant as a first step, says Wendy
Artman, a spokeswoman for the campaign.
You might just catch the exercise habit.
And if enough people do it, it might help stem the tide
of inactivity and the growing epidemic of obesity, they
say. From 1988 to 1994, the percent of U.S. adults classified
as obese rose from 23 percent to 31 percent, according to
the officials at America on the Move, citing government
statistics.
Only 26.2 percent of the U.S. population gets the recommended
amount of exercise -- that means 30 minutes of physical
activity (the equivalent of 3,000 to 4,000 steps) most days
of the week. And nearly 28 percent are inactive. Another
46 percent get inadequate amounts of activity, according
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Moving a little more and eating a little less can help,
public health officials say.
And McDonald's marketers agree. Its $5 Get Active meal,
which includes a meal-sized salad with chicken or beef,
bottled water, a pedometer and an exercise booklet, is being
test marketed in Indiana. If all goes well, the meal will
be offered nationwide in 2004, says company spokeswoman
Bridget Coffing.
There's no connection between the new Go Active meal and
the obesity lawsuit filed against McDonald's that was dismissed
recently, Coffing says, citing a "rich tradition"
by the company of sponsoring community programs that encourage
activity.
Research suggests the devices do help people get active.
In one study, researchers evaluated nine overweight people
with type 2 diabetes who were sedentary and then were given
pedometers. They increased their walking, with the average
walk time rising to 34.3 minutes daily. They kept it up
even two months after the study, although their total walk
time dropped to 22.6 minutes a day. That research appeared
in the May 2002 issue of Patient Education and Counseling.
David Bassett Jr., a researcher at the University of Tennessee
in Knoxville, also believes in the value of the devices.
"You can put them on and easily get feedback about
how active you are," he says. They work best, he says,
"for people at the lower end of the activity spectrum."
Response to America on the Move has been great since the
launch, Artman says. Besides the hundreds of information
requests, Indiana has launched Indiana on the Move, a program
similar to Colorado on the Move, the pilot program that
sparked the national effort.
Pedometers are readily available for as little as $20 or
less, although some models cost more, either at sporting
goods stores or online from organizations such as America
on the Move. Bassett and his colleagues recently evaluated
10 pedometers and found they are less accurate at slower
walking speeds.
Of the 10 devices tested, they found the Yamax Digiwalker
SW-701 the most accurate at calculating steps, distance
and calories burned. The runner-up was the Walk4Life LS
2525.
Article Source: HealthDay
Article Author: N/A
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