Pounding the pavement

American Fitness, Nov-Dec, 2004

While we all imagine college students enjoying their new-found freedom lazying around their dorm rooms, hanging out in coffee bars and, on occasion, parking it in hard library chairs, we also picture them walking a lot. We can see them, in our mind's eye, walking from class to class, across large campuses and from dorm to library to the coffee shop. Surely, they are walking enough to meet the minimum standards recommended for good health ... aren't they? According to a survey conducted at Oklahoma State University, they're not.

When 79 college students enrolled in college-level introductory wellness classes strapped on Walk4Life pedometers, researchers found that not only were the students taking fewer steps than recommended for health benefits, but most of them tended to overestimate their walking patterns.

"Despite the walking students traditionally do on or around campus or between classes, it's still not enough to meet the threshold for health benefits," says Becky L. Wilber, M.S., lead author of the study. "If college students are going to avoid that legendary weight gain known as the Freshmen 15, keep weight off or maintain health, they're going to have to increase their physical activity while on campus or during their leisure time."