Americans Walk Less and Gain More

By , SparkPeople Blogger
My daughter’s preschool is less than ½ mile from our house, so most days (weather permitting), I push my son up in our double stroller to get her. I feel bad enough driving her to school (my kids don’t get up early enough to walk in the morning), but I usually try to combine it with other errands so that our environmental impact isn’t quite as terrible.

Usually I’m the only one arriving with a stroller. Most of the moms drive up in their large SUV’s and minivans (confession- I drive an SUV too). I know some of them, and also know where they live. A number of them live as close or closer to school than I do, but they always drive. Is it because they don’t have time to walk, or don’t feel safe? I think it’s more likely that they just don’t think about it.

New research, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, showed that American adults walk less than adults in some other countries, which also have lower obesity rates. Coincidence? Not likely. Over 1,000 American adults wore pedometers to track their activity throughout the day. Similar studies were also conducted in Japan, Australia and Switzerland. Researchers found that "the mean number of steps Americans take in a day is 5,117, compared with 9,695 for Australians, the walking leaders among the four countries. The USA's 34% adult obesity rate is more than double Australia's 16%."

Although exercise is important when it comes to weight loss, your activity level throughout the day is also key. The CDC recommends 10,000 steps per day (which includes exercise) to maintain good health and an active lifestyle. For most people, 10,000 steps is around five miles worth of daily walking.

If you’re someone who struggles with finding time to exercise, what are some simple ways to add more activity to your day? Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park out further in the store lot instead of right next to the door, and walk when you’re running a nearby errand instead of getting in the car. The short walks to my daughter’s school give me a chance to clear my head, get some fresh air and give me an energy boost to get through the rest of the day.

Since becoming a regular exerciser, have you become more active throughout the rest of your day? How has that impacted your weight loss progress? What simple things do you do to squeeze extra activity into the day?