Study: Pedometers Help People Lose Weight

November 21, 2007 8:38 a.m. EST

Chicago, Ill. (AHN) - According to multiple research studies, a simple fitness gadget worth $20 may help lower a person's blood pressure and at the same time, shed pounds from their frame all by just walking.

The gadget, popularly known as a Pedometer, is also called step counters to others.

According to Stanford University's co-author Dr. Dena Bravata, increasing physical activity such as walking and keeping a diary at the same time to jot down the number of steps walked on each exercise, could shed extra pounds and lowers the blood pressure.

She said, "Every night, you write down how many steps you walked that day. By flipping back through your diary, you're able to see patterns: 'On the two days a week I took the stairs, I increased my steps.'"

Brevata and other doctors, who took part in the experiment said that they have analyzed participants from different part of the globe, from U.S. and Canada and half dozen in Asia particularly in Japan, Europe and Australia. The average age participated was 49-year-old and 85 percent of the participants were female because their research were particularly for female gender. There were a total of more than 2,700 volunteers who participated in the study.

In the research, it showed that pedometer users, increased their stamina by about 27 percent and it showed that on average, the volunteers loss pounds and their blood pressure dropped, which is enough to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, Bravata said.