Steps Per Day Required for Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines in Japanese Adults
in Journal of Physical Activity and HealthClick name to view affiliation
Background:
This study aimed to determine the optimal number of steps per day needed to meet the current physical activity guidelines in a large population sample of Japanese adults.
Methods:
An accelerometer-based activity monitor (Kenz Lifecorder) was used to simultaneously measure moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and step counts in 940 Japanese adults (480 women) aged 20 to 69 years. The step count per day equivalents to 2 different physical activity recommendations (23 MET-h/wk and 150 min/wk of MVPA) were derived using linear regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methodology.
Results:
Linear regression analysis showed that daily step counts correlated with weekly PAEE (r = .83) and daily minutes of MVPA (r = .83). Linear regression analysis also showed that 23 MET-h/wk of MVPA is equivalent to 11,160 steps/d, and 150 min/wk of MVPA is equivalent to 7716 steps/d. ROC analysis yielded similar findings: 10,225 steps/d are required to accumulate ≥ 23 MET-h/wk of MVPA and 7857 steps/d are needed to meet the recommendation of ≥ 150 min/wk of MVPA.
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that 10,000 to 11,000 and 7700 to 8000 steps/d represent the optimal thresholds for accumulating ≥ 23 MET-h/wk of MVPA and ≥ 150 min/wk of MVPA, respectively, for Japanese adults.
Cao (caozb_edu@yahoo.co.jp) is with School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China. Higuchi is with the Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, Japan. Oh is with the Faculty of Human Health Science, Matsumoto University, Matsumoto, Japan. Miyatake is with the Dept of Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Miki, Japan. Tsushita is with the Comprehensive Health Science Center, Aichi Health Promotion Foundation, Higashiura, Japan. Tabata is with the Faculty of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Japan.
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