ISSUE ADDRESSED To evaluate the effectiveness of a brief intervention using a pedometer and step-recording diary on promoting physical activity in people with type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). METHODS People with type 2 diabetes or IGT who attended the Illawarra Diabetes Service were invited to participate. Participants in the intervention group received a pedometer and a d...

BACKGROUND The Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ) assesses physical activity practices of pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to identify specific pregnancy practices that were associated with a healthy gestational weight gain (GWG). METHODS Associations between PPAQ scores, pedometer steps, energy intakes (EI), energy expenditures (EE), and rate of GWG were assessed f...

Most individuals do not reach the recommended physical activity level of at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise (AE) at moderate-to-vigorous intensity per week. For example, only 13% of older Canadian adults reach World Health Organization physical activity guideline (PAG). One of the reasons might be a difficulty identifying the required intensity. Twenty-five inactive older adults received ...

BACKGROUND Demographic growth in conjunction with the rise of chronic diseases is increasing the pressure on health care systems in most OECD countries. Physical activity is known to be an essential factor in improving or maintaining good health. Walking is especially recommended, as it is an activity that can easily be performed by most people without constraints. Pedometers have been extensiv...

Background. Physical activity (PA) is associated with health benefits and disease prevention and is often prescribed in managing many health conditions. Understanding the cultural influences is relevant in order to effectively promote PA. The objective of this study was to assess the level of PA among Saudi women, measured by daily step count, and the association between PA and health beliefs. ...

This study assessed the utility of 3-week goal-setting, self-monitoring and step-feedback pedometer interventions for increasing physical activity (PA) in children, and the relative impact of individual and group-standardised goals. Three classes of primary school children (n = 68) were randomised to: (a) individual-standardised goal (IS), (b) group-standardised goal (GS) or (c) open pedometer ...

BACKGROUND Pedometers are increasingly being used to measure physical activity in children and adolescents. This review provides an overview of common measurement issues relating to their use. METHODS Studies addressing the following measurement issues in children/adolescents (aged 3-18 years) were included: pedometer validity and reliability, monitoring period, wear time, reactivity, and dat...

BACKGROUND Pedometer measurement of physical activity (PA) has been shown to be reliable and valid in industrialized populations, but its applicability in economically developing Vietnam remains untested. This study assessed the feasibility, stability and validity of pedometer estimates of PA in Vietnam. METHODS 250 adults from a population-based survey were randomly selected to wear Yamax pe...

BACKGROUND Sedentary aging leads to adverse changes in vascular function and cardiac performance. We published improvements in vascular function with moderate intensity physical activity (PA) in continuous bouts. Whether moderate intensity PA also impacts cardiac structure and cardiovascular performance of the aging left ventricle (LV) is unknown. METHODS We recruited and analyzed results fro...

BACKGROUND The goal of this study was to establish preliminary criterion-referenced cut points for adult pedometer-determined physical activity (PA) related to weight status defined by body mass index (BMI). METHODS Researchers contributed directly measured BMI and pedometer data that had been collected (1) using a Yamax-manufactured pedometer, (2) for a minimum of 3 days, (3) on ostensibly h...