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Pedometer Accuracy
WLR dietitian Juliette Kellow reports on findings from the
British Journal of Sports Medicine which showed inexpensive
pedometers were not the most accurate pedometers.
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Steps Ahead? - Pedometer Accuracy
By WLR Dietitian
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Health experts recommend we walk 10,000 steps a day to keep
us fit and healthy – and as a result, many of us have invested
in a pedometer to help us achieve this goal. However, a new
report published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine
raises the question about how accurate are pedometers,
particularly those that are inexpensive.
The researchers got 35 volunteers to test almost 1,000
pedometers against a sophisticated, accurate step counter.
Overall, three out of four pedometers differed by more than 10
percent – the variation considered acceptable – when compared
with the sophisticated step counter. Worse still, the variation
was greater than 50 percent in more than one in three pedometers
– and in two thirds of these, the pedometers overestimated the
actual number of steps taken.
Whilst the authors recognise that pedometers are popular as a
cheap and easy way to boost fitness levels or lose weight, they
say, “Inexpensive pedometers provide incorrect information on
step counts, which makes them inappropriate for physical
activity promotion targets”. As a result, they suggest a quality
kite mark would be helpful.
WLR says:
This is a shocking finding – an error of 50 percent in 10,000
daily steps, adds up to a massive 5,000 steps. That might be
good news if your pedometer has underestimated the amount of
steps you’ve achieved, so you’ve actually taken 15,000 steps.
But it’s not so good if you’ve only taken 5,000 steps and
believe you’ve done twice as many.
As inexpensive pedometers appear to be the worst culprits,
it’s likely that those given away free or as part of a promotion
are likely to be the least accurate. If you want to accurately
record your step count, our advice is to spend as much as you
can to purchase the most accurate pedometer. |
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