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Just 2000 Steps and 100 Calories Can Impact Children's Lives And Prevent Disease

Posted: Monday, May 22, 2006

According to health statistics, one-third of all children in the United States are either overweight or dangerously close to becoming so.

Walking 2000 more steps a day and reducing your calories by 100 per day can prevent weight gain for overweight children. The study results proves that this approach can help counter America's obesity crisis. The study used 216 families who had a child who was defined as overweight by their body mass index (BMI). BMI Calculator for Children.

The test group was asked to walk 2000 more steps per day as tracked by a pedometer, and reduce calories by 100 (by replacing sugar with Splenda no-calorie sweetener). They tracked the study group over six months using the America On the Move® program.

The control group was asked to keep an exercise and food diary, but not to make specific changes. The study was funded through a grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and support from McNeil Nutritionals, LLC.

These small changes resulted in 67% of the test group reducing their BMI after six months. Over half of the control group also saw a reduction. This positive result for the control group further proof that just paying attention to your diet and exercise through keeping a journal or wearing a pedometer can help us lose weight. Perhaps another control group was needed that did not track diet and exercise. Free Printable Walking Logs and Food Diary

"Based on the study's success, our hope is that more families will see America On the Move(R) as a fun and simple way to become more active, eat more healthfully and, as a result, achieve and maintain a healthy weight," said Dr. James O. Hill, AOMF co-founder and professor of pediatrics and medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, in a press release. "Our results give parents ammunition to deliver a realistic and tangible way for the whole family to live healthier."

According to health statistics, one-third of all children in the United States are either overweight or dangerously close to becoming so.

Source: Diabetes In Control: The America On the Move(R) Family Study, presented April 30, 2006 at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco.