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

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 \u3e3000 steps/day or (b) participants who remained sedentary. Subjects: A multi-ethnic heterogeneous sample of seventy-seven sedentary middle-aged women (BMI: 30.15 plus or minus 5.24 kg/m2, age: 46.00 plus or minus 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 less than or equal to .01) in waist circumference and fasting glucose. Significant between group changes were observed in resting heart rate (P less than or equal to .01), weight (P less than or equal to .01), BMI (P less than or equal to .01), and systolic blood pressure (P less than or equal to .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