The Effects of an Incremental Pedometer Program on Metabolic Syndrome Components in Sedentary Overweight Women

by Musto, Anthony

Objective: Pedometer programs are effective in increasing physical activity in sedentary individuals, a population that is at an increased for developing metabolic syndrome and each of its¡¯ individual components. The aim of this study was to observe the effects of incremental increases in pedometer assessed physical activity on MetS components in sedentary overweight women. Design: This study was a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design. Participants were recruited from a 12-week work-site pedometer program and grouped after the intervention based on their self-paced increases in pedometer assessed physical activity with (a) active participants that increased their daily activity by mean volume >3000 steps/day or (b) participants who remained sedentary. Subjects: A multi-ethnic heterogeneous sample of seventy-seven sedentary middle-aged women (BMI: 30.15 ¡À 5.24 kg/m2, age: 46.00 ¡À 9.93 years). Measurements: Self-reported physical activity, pedometer assessed physical activity (steps/day), body mass index, resting heart rate, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL-C and fasting glucose at baseline and after the 12-week program. Results: The active group showed significant within-group improvements (P¡Ü.01) in waist circumference and fasting glucose. Significant between group changes were observed in resting heart rate (P¡Ü.01), weight (P¡Ü.01), BMI (P¡Ü.01), and systolic blood pressure (P¡Ü.001); however, the changes observed in systolic blood pressure were not independent of weight loss. Conclusions: Our study showed that incremental increases in steps/day over 12 weeks is effective in inducing mild, but favorable changes in some MetS components. This data suggests that this approach to increasing step/day is a viable starting point for sedentary individuals that may find it difficult to initially accumulate 10,000 steps/day.