pedometers
A new study has revealed that people who engage in a walking program for their health benefit by using a pedometer, a device that counts their steps, get much greater health benefits than those who do not.
In the study, reported in the Nov. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Dan Bravata and his colleagues Stanford University in California concluded that people who use pedometers to measure how far they walk lose more weight and have lower blood pressure than non-users.
The Stanford University study reviewed 26 earlier studies covering 2,767 people, with an average age of 49.
The study also revealed that pedometer users reduced health risks by losing weight as measured by body mass index and significantly reduced their systolic blood pressure.
The benefit of pedometer use comes from that fact that many pedometer-related programs recommend that users set daily goals. A typical daily goal is 10,000 steps or about 5 miles (8 km). Dr. Bravata and his colleagues discovered that pedometer users took more than 2,400 extra steps daily than those who did not use the devices.
Another advantage of pedometer use was that it seemed to increase motivation for more physical activity. "The more sedentary you were, the more likely this tool was to help you," Bravata said.
"Our results suggest that the use of these small, relatively inexpensive devices is associated with significant increases in physical activity and improvements in some key health outcomes, at least in the short term," said Dr. Bravata.
In light of this new pedometer study, workplace walking/pedometer programs are now on the rise. Positive Promotions, the cutting-edge promotional goods company based in Hauppauge, N.Y., is a fantastic source for finding imprintable pedometers for use in a workplace program. They have dozens of styles & designs to choose from, some even have radios and clocks, and all can be personalized with an imprinted logo or message.
Start a walking/pedometer program in your workplace today. Visit the Positive Promotions website at http://www.positivepromotions.com.
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