Daily steps and fitness: A pedometer-based cross-sectional study of staff and students at a South African university

Abstract

Walking has always been identified as an affordable and easily accessible mode of physical activity (PA) and is consequently recommended for promoting good health. Pedometers, typically measuring total steps/day, are regarded as a useful tool to motivate, measure and monitor ambulatory PA. There is, however, limited information on the association between volume and intensity of steps, with aerobic fitness, which was the main thrust of this study. A convenience sample (n=122; 32.5±13.6 years), recruited at a tertiary institution in Durban, South Africa, wore a pedometer for at least five consecutive days. Aerobic fitness was determined through the Harvard step test, culminating in a Physical Efficiency Index (PEI) as a fitness estimate. Steps/day data was sub-grouped according to volume/intensity-based categories aligned with steps/day recommendations. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare groups, adjusting for age, gender and total steps/day (for intensity-based steps analyses). A Bonferroni post-hoc test was applied to examine between group effects. More than half of the participants (54.1%; n=66) accumulated <5,000 steps/day, typically classified as sedentary, with over two-thirds (68%; n=83) amassing little/no intensity-based steps. The average total steps/day was 5,352±2. When categorised by total steps/day recommendations (i.e., <5,000, 5,000-7,499, 7,500-9,999, ≥10,000), no significant between-group effects were noted. In contrast, average intensity-based steps (i.e., <1,000 versus ≥1,000 intensity-based steps/day), yielded significant differences between the two groups for aerobic fitness, waist-hip-ratio (WHR) and waist circumference (WC) (p<0.001, respectively). Steps/day recommendations should, therefore, include the accumulation of intensity-based steps.