| |
 |   |  |
|
The Amish Way Dr. David Bassett put pedometers on 98 adults in an Amish community. The men averaged 18,425 steps a day and the women just over 14,000. Despite the fact that the men consume about 3,500 calories a day, only 25% of the men were overweight, and none was obese, among the women 27% were overweight with 9% obese. The fact that the Amish eat 33% more than a typical North American but show much less than half the incidence of overweight and obesity is testimony to the importance of walking and physical activity. The study was published recently in the Journal of Medicine and Science.
Walking and Weight Control Around the World The editors of Self Magazine were intrigued to read a quote by Dr. John Puchar of Rutgers University that, "roughly 25% of Americans are obese, while only 7% of Europeans are." Puchar felt the reason was that, on average, Europeans walk three times as much as Americans. Puchar noted the following:
Dr. Andrea Dunn of the Cooper Institute says, "Today the average US woman burns 700 to 800 fewer calories a day than she did 25 years ago, and it's largely because we don't walk anywhere, anymore." [Martin's Note: The 700 to 800 calorie number seems high to me, I would have thought something closer to 300 calories.] Dana Sullivan picked out representative women in various countries and had them wear a Sportbrain pedometer, the findings speak for themselves.
The above are not scientific, but are fairly typical; without significant walking as part of your daily commute and without setting aside time for purposeful walking, it is not easy to get more than 5000 steps in our energy saving North American culture.
There Must be 50 Ways to Lose Your Blubber
Here are a few thoughts on how to get more steps into your life. Readers of 'Well' are asked for more suggestions to get us up to 50.
Good shoes are important. If you find a shoe you like and that works for you, buy 2 or 3 pairs because styles change so fast. [click the guitar to hear an mp3 file of Martin singing this verse of the Nike song]
The Omron Healthcare Diabetes in Control, 10,000 Step Study 
THE RESULTS:
E.W. Gregg, PhD of the Division of Diabetes, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and his colleagues investigated the association between walking and the risk of all causes of death, and death due to cardio-vascular disease among people with diabetes. "Walking was associated with lower mortality [death rates] across a diverse spectrum of adults with diabetes," wrote the authors. "One death per year may be preventable for every 61 people who could be persuaded to walk at least 2 hours per week." In an accompanying editorial, Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health, said, "Persuasive evidence from epidemiologic studies and clinical trials demonstrates substantial benefits of exercise, especially walking, in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Because walking is accessible, is relatively safe, and can easily be incorporated into a daily routine, it is a form of exercise that is practical and suitable for most individuals, including women, diabetic patients, and the elderly. To read the complete article, go to www.diabetesincontrol.com/studies/step.shtml
I always feel a bit envious of people whose job helps keep them in shape. We put a pedometer on our letter carrier, Mike, who, on a slightly shortened route, did 18,598 steps in about 2 hours and 40 mins. The Omron pedometer registered 695 calories, but it would be more than that as he's toting a heavy bag of mail. Mike said the only downside to his job is that when he takes a vacation and stops walking he puts on a few pounds. My gardener, Cheryl, logs over 20,000 steps a day, plus plenty of upper body work. She is going back to a reunion at the high school from which she graduated 22 years ago. I said to her, "I bet you look about the same as when you graduated." Her reply was, "No, I've lost about 20 lbs." Not something that most of her former classmates will be able to say. We do so well when we're active and struggle so much when we're sedentary. Upcoming Attraction We are working on making the Speakwell site more interactive. In the coming months, you will be able to record your step-count, check your BMI and record your comments about the effectiveness of various brands and models of pedometers. A Package Deal on Walking The American Diabetes Association sells a boxed package with the theme, "Small Steps, Big Rewards". It's good to see the D.O.G.S. (Disease and Organ Groups. e.g. Diabetes Assn., Heart and Stroke, Cancer Society etc.)  The A.D.A. box contains a step-counter, reminding you to do "10,000 steps per day". I've just had the one package, so I can't generalize about the accuracy of the step counters. However, the one that came in my box consistently showed about half the number of steps I actually did. The consistency suggests that the mechanism is fine, but there is no way to adjust it to reflect my actual number of steps. I like the fact that a spare battery is included. The box also contains a common sense booklet written by Sherrye Landrum. The cover of the booklet says, The booklet is published by Small Steps press (no web site yet), which is a publishing arm of the A.D.A., initially printing books on lifestyle and the prevention of diabetes. These books are targeted for the general public, not for diabetics or people with metabolic syndrome. It took me a while to figure this out and I was wondering why there was nothing about monitoring blood sugar or other information relevant to diabetes and exercise. Looked at as a walking and exercise stimulus for the general public, the booklet generally does a good job with common sense ideas and references to some useful websites and resources.
The box (including pedometer, booklet and spare battery) can be ordered from the American Diabetes Association. Order code 5012-01. Information can be obtained from Lee Romano Sequeira Tel: (703) 299-2046. I had a hard time finding ordering information on the ADA web site, but eventually found it at store.diabetes.org. As noted, the cost is $19.95 US, which I feel is acceptable, especially if any profit goes into supporting positive lifestyle programs and diabetes research. However, I think putting the money towards a really good pedometer might be a better investment, although before committing myself to that I'd like to check out a few more of the "Small Steps, Big Rewards" pedometers. Stairway to Health Stairway to Health is a newly launched web-based resource developed to increase physical activity in the workplace through stair climbing. Activities like stair climbing can significantly contribute to the 30 minutes of physical activity we all need... everyday, plus...
Registering is easy and free!
Visit the website today at: www.healthcanada.ca/stairwaytohealth Stairway to Health is a partnership between Health Canada, and the Canadian Council for Health and Active Living at Work (CCHALW).
|
 |
|  |
Cheryl recently got I.D'd at a bar and she is more than 20 years over the BC drinking age.
really get behind prevention initiatives. For many years, a huge percentage of their budgets has gone to fund the creation of procedures and pharmaceuticals, which will 'cure' or 'control' an illness or condition. There is now a growing recognition that the real 'cure' is in a healthy, active lifestyle, and that there is a much bigger pay-off to keeping people healthy, rather than trying to fix the sick.
"Expert Advice and Scientific Research". In order to be easy to read, the scientific research is understandably not mentioned, but I'd like to have seen references to some major walking and exercise studies, so that interested readers could look them up.
