Pedometers as a Weight Loss Gadget

There's been several studies that show pedometers can be helpful to encourage people to get moving and walk more.

In this other study from a few years ago, researchers found that sedentary women had a higher BMI and a higher belly fat ratio than more active women. This would seem obvious to most people but the numbers are interesting anyway. Here 80 middle-aged women wore a pedometer without changing their activity level for a week. The researchers measured their body mass index (BMI) as well as waist and hips (to determine belly fat).

The average sedentary person walks 2,000-3,000 steps per day.

This study found that women who typically walked less than 6,000 steps had a BMI of 29, 44% body fat, a 37-inch waist, 42-inch hips, and a 0.87 waist-to-hip ratio.

6,000 to 10,000 steps had a BMI of 26, 35% body fat, a 32-inch waist, 40-inch hips, and a 0.80 waist-to-hip ratio.

10,000 steps or more had a BMI of 23, 26% body fat, a 29-inch waist, 29-inch hips, and a 0.75 waist-to-hip ratio.

Basically those who walked less had more total fat, and more centrally located fat.

Walking 10,000 steps is doable in 30 minutes time.

The pedometer shown above costs less than $20. It's the best-selling Omron Pedometer