University of Maryland's School of Public Health is Giving Out Pedometers at Maryland Day to Promote Physical Activity

The School of Public Health will be giving out pedometers to track individuals' step counts at its Step It Up event during Maryland Day. While there's no direct link between pedometers and health benefits like weight loss and the decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, the device - along with other activity trackers available - can help people to be more mindful of living an active and healthy lifestyle.

The Fitbit can sync up to an iPhone or individuals can check
 their stats and track their fitness on a computer.

There will be about 2,000 pedometers available for Maryland Day attendees to use. 

This is the first year the School of Public Health, SPH, will be hosting this event at Maryland Day.

Kristin Cipriani, the assistant director of Public Health Science, is the coordinator for the Step It Up event.

"We wanted to give attendees something to help keep them mindful of their well being," Cipriani said. "We went with pedometers because that's an easy one to do and with all of the attraction right now to Fitbits and different ways to track your steps the pedometer seemed like one people would like."



The pedometers at Maryland Day will only have the basic function of tracking the amount of steps taken, but it can help give attendees an idea of how much they walk at Maryland Day and on such a large campus.

It is recommended to take 10,000 steps a day and get 150 minutes of physical activity a week for adults. 

The American Heart Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend accumulating 10,000 steps each day to stay fit and reduce the risk of disease.

Cipriani says, "Because Maryland's campus is so big, students have a great advantage here just walking to and from class."

Sara Goodwin, a junior at UMD, uses a Fitbit Charge to help her stay active.

"I live on the third floor of my house and I walk 30 floors a day apparently on average," Goodwin said. "I also walked 15 or 20,000 steps a day when I was going to the gym pretty regularly."

Goodwin's longest walk from her house to class is a half hour each way; she also walks .89 miles each way.

However, while a brisk walk can count towards exercise, the physical activity recommendations for adults are about 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week.

There is a correlation between the amount of exercise an individual does and weight loss as well as decreased risk of health issues including the onset of cardiovascular disease. Pedometers can help make an individual more cognizant of their physical activity and push them to do more.

Pedometers can help make people more mindful of their step count, and therefore the amount of physical activity engaged in daily. 

Cipriani mentions using pedometers does not directly have health benefits, but by making an individual more aware of their physical activity it can push them to do more.



Emily Joseph, a junior at UMD, uses a Fitbit Flex to count her steps.



According to Fitbit, their users take 43% more steps. Activity trackers can help promote a healthy and active lifestyle by making users more aware of their physical activity.

Lauren Straface, a senior at UMD, also uses a Fitbit to keep track of her health and fitness. "If I'm having a lazier day where I'm sitting a lot I can look at my Fitbit stats and see that and it pushes me to want to go to the gym because I want to increase my steps and burn more calories. It helps me stay on track and ensure I am always doing some type of physical activity everyday," Straface said.

Students use other fitness trackers like Fitbits and smartphone apps to stay active and healthy. 

There are several types of fitness trackers with a variety of different functions, which resemble more advanced modern day pedometers.

Fitbit has a variety of activity trackers that sync up to iPhones and computers.

listen to ‘Sara Goodwin’ on audioBoom

Other popular activity trackers include the Nike+ FuelBand and the Jawbone.

The health app on the iPhone has a pedometer function which measures steps, flights climbed, cycling distance, and even calories.

This screenshot from the iPhone health app shows
the step count and pedometer function of the app.

MyFitnessPal also offers several different apps to download to track step count and activity, sync up to GPS, connect to Fitbit, along with dietary functions.

Cipriani said brisk walking can count towards physical activity, but people still want to be doing more and there are a variety of ways students can get active on campus by taking advantage of various resources and activities through organizations and the recreation centers. Pedometers, or fitness trackers with the pedometer function, can help make people mindful and develop a healthy lifestyle routine. In addition to walking around campus there are group fitness classes, club and intramural sports and other ways to stay physically fit.