BMI And Steps Taken In Women With At Least One Component Of The Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Much remains to be determined regarding the relationship between physical activity and a variety of health-related outcomes. Pedometers have been increasingly used as an objective measure of PA (steps/day) in health-related research. PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship among total steps, leisure-day (non-work day) steps, work-day steps, steps taken during work only, and body mass index (BMI) in women with one or more components of the metabolic syndrome with self-reported sedentary occupations. Additionally, inter-individual variability in steps taken at work was investigated. METHODS: Participants (n = 65; mean age = 45.7 ± 10.6 years) with a mean BMI of 32.84 ± 7.17 kg/m2 wore a pedometer over the course of four days: two complete work days and two entire days of leisure activity. Each participant reported the total number of steps taken over: all four days (TS), two leisure-days only (LDS), two complete work days (WDS), and steps taken at work only (WOS; n = 63). Pearson correlations were utilized to look at the relationships among TS, LDS, WDS, WOS and BMI. Descriptive statistics were utilized to evaluate the inter-individual variability in WOS. RESULTS: TS (mean = 6505 ± 3100 steps/day) was inversely related with BMI, r = -.40, p =.001. WDS and LDS (mean = 6214 ± 3215 and 6795 ± 3590 steps/day, respectively) were also inversely related with BMI, r = -.33, p =.007; r = -.39, p =.001, respectively. WOS (mean = 3364 ± 1889 steps/day) was not significantly related with BMI, r = -.15, p =.260. However, WOS demonstrated a moderate positive correlation with TS, r =.52, p <.001. Inter-individual variability in WOS (mean = 3364 ± 1889, min = 615, max = 9174 steps/day) was substantial. Those individuals in the 75th percentile took more than twice as many steps compared to those in the 25th percentile (4434 vs. 1978 steps, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate a moderate significant correlation between body mass index and the mean number of steps taken by women with at least one component of the metabolic syndrome. Additionally, the inter-individual variability in steps taken during the work day is noteworthy; for some, the total number of steps taken at work made up a substantial contribution to overall step taken per day.