Here’s a quick & easy way to encourage people walk more: give them pedometers (link may be subscription only—sorry). A pilot project in BC is doing just that—and according to one of the participating doctors…
“[P]edometers may be as effective in changing patients’ exercise habits as nicotine patches and prescription medications are for quitting smoking.”
Research shows that walking at least 5,000 steps per day reduces the likelihood of obesity, and walking 9,000 or more steps per day can increase the odds of being of “normal” weight, rather than overweight.
The thing is, I have absolutely no idea how many steps I take during the average day. A thousand? Five thousand? More? It’s pretty much impossible to gauge. But with a pedometer, you know exactly how much you’ve walked—which makes it much, much easier to set & meet concrete walking goals.
Perhaps another example of how a little bit of information can carry you a long way.
