The Relationship Between Steps Walked Per Day and Body Composition in Postmenopausal Women

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between pedometer-determined physical activity measured in steps per day and body composition variables in healthy, postmenopausal women. Methods: Height, weight, percent body fat, waist circumference and hip circumference were measured on ninety-three women (60.9 ± 5.76 years). Each subject wore a pedometer for 14 consecutive days following testing to assess average daily steps. Subjects recorded each day’s accumulated step count and reset the pedometer the next morning. Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine the relationship between average steps per day and body composition variables. Partial correlation coefficients were calculated to determine if age influenced the relationship between steps and body composition variables. Subjects were placed in groups to reflect different levels of physical activity: sedentary (< 5,500 stepsd), low active (5,500-7,500 stepsd), and active (> 7,500 stepsd). ANOVA was used to determine whether body composition variables varied across activity groups. A P < 0.05 was considered significant for all tests.