BACKGROUND The purpose of this review is to update the methodological aspects of pedometry to encourage the consistent use of pedometers for assessment, to decrease sources of error, and to facilitate comparison and interpretation of results. METHODS The specific measurement topics addressed include: instrument choice, metric choice, validity, reliability, data collection and retrieval, time ...

BACKGROUND Recent public health initiatives have promoted accumulating 10,000 steps per day. Little previous research has evaluated its effects in young adults. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of taking 10,000 steps per day on fitness and cardiovascular risk factors in sedentary university students. METHODS Healthy, sedentary students (mean age 21.16 ± SD 6.17) were randoml...

BACKGROUND Scotland has a policy aimed at increasing physical activity levels in the population, but evidence on how to achieve this is still developing. Studies that focus on encouraging real world participants to start physical activity in their settings are needed. The Walking for Well-being in the West study was designed to assess the effectiveness of a pedometer-based walking programme in ...

BACKGROUND Graded health benefits of physical activity have been demonstrated for the reduction of coronary heart disease, some cancers, and type-2 diabetes, and for injury reduction and improvements in mental health. Older adults are particularly at risk of physical inactivity, and would greatly benefit from successful targeted physical activity interventions. METHODS/DESIGN The Healthy Step...

BACKGROUND In adults it is recommended that the minimum of 10,000 steps/day should be performed in order to consider an individual as active. The pedometer, a small device that counts steps, has been used to monitor and/or motivate physical activity in various populations. OBJECTIVE To investigate the short-term effects of a protocol using a pedometer or an informative booklet to increase dai...

BACKGROUND Self-monitoring using pedometers is an effective behaviour change technique to support increased physical activity (PA). However, the ways in which pedometers operate as motivational tools in adoption and maintenance of PA is not well understood. This paper investigates men's experiences of pedometers as motivational tools both during and after their participation in a 12-week group-...

Physical education is a favourable educational framework for the development of programmes aimed at increasing physical activity in children and thus reducing sedentarism. The progressive increase of overweight students demands global control and follow-up measurement of these behaviours in both in and out of school. The pedometer can be a useful tool in this field. It is easy to use and allow ...

INTRODUCTION A pedometer helps adults exercise more, but sedentary adults need instruction and advice to be motivated to use one. We conducted this qualitative study to describe the experiences of participants at high risk of type 2 diabetes who began using a pedometer. METHODS A total of 74 people at high risk of type 2 diabetes participated in 6 months of group counseling. From April 2007 t...

Pedometers are a popular way for people to track if they have reached the recommended 10,000 daily steps. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of four brands of pedometers at measuring steps, and to determine if a relationship exists between pedometer cost and accuracy. The hypothesis was that the more expensive brands of pedometers (the Fitbit Charge™ and Omron HJ...

BACKGROUND Understanding parental influences on their children's physical activity (PA) provides insight into developing effective family-based interventions. This study examines whether children's objectively monitored PA is associated with that of their parents. METHODS Participants (children and parents) were recruited to a sub-study of the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute...