Pedometers, goals help fitness

CHICAGO – A $20 fitness gadget stood up to multiple research studies, helping people walk an additional mile each day – but only if they logged their steps.

Those who did lowered their blood pressure and lost a few pounds, an analysis found.

Pedometers, also called step counters, clip to a belt or waistband and count the steps the wearer takes during the day. They range in price from $5 to $60, with simple yet reliable models costing around $20.

The analysis found that increasing physical activity depended on setting a goal and keeping a diary of the number of steps walked each day, said co-author Dr. Dena Bravata of Stanford University. Her report appears in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

“Every night, you write down how many steps you walked that day,” she said. “By flipping back through your diary, you’re able to see patterns: ‘On the two days a week I took the stairs, I increased my steps.’ “

Bravata and her colleagues analyzed 20 studies from the United States and Canada and half a dozen from Japan, Europe and Australia. The average age of participants was 49, and 85 percent were female because some studies targeted women. The total number of volunteers overall was more than 2,700.

The research showed that pedometer users increased their physical activity by about 27 percent, walking about one mile more a day than they did before they started their step-counting routines. Most of the studies established a baseline by asking these walkers not to change their usual activity while wearing a sealed pedometer, that is, one where they couldn’t see the number of steps, for three to seven days.

On average, the volunteers lost a few pounds. And their blood pressure dropped enough to lower their risk for stroke and heart disease, Bravata said.