ERIC Number: EJ980271
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jun
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0270-1367
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
A Step in the Right Direction: Commentary on Expected Values for Pedometer-Determined Physical Activity in Youth
Beets, Michael W.
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, v81 n2 p123-124 Jun 2010
The recent compilation of pedometer-determined physical activity studies of youth by Tudor-Locke and colleagues (Tudor-Locke, McClain, Hart, Sisson, & Washington, 2009) is a valuable addition to the growing field of physical activity assessment via pedometry. In this study, Tudor-Locke and colleagues presented an "expected" habitual daily step-curve beginning from ages 6 through 18 years based on 22 studies. They provided median steps/day values from studies that represented boys and girls, separately, and for each year of chronological age. While the study is informative, three caveats require additional consideration. First, prior research (Vincent, Pangrazi, Raustorp, Tomson, & Cuddihy, 2003), albeit limited in number, suggested there is considerable disparity among countries for the average daily steps taken by youth. Second, the use of the median steps/day (the middle average steps/day from lowest to highest values reported from the included studies) and the inattention to weighting these values provided estimates that did not fully account for the differences in the amount of information each study contributed. Third, presentation of the expected step-curve provided estimates that challenge common sense. Such considerations as above will facilitate a greater understanding of the differences and similarities in pedometer-determined physical activity of youth over time.
Descriptors: Measurement, Handheld Devices, Physical Activities, Physical Activity Level, Benchmarking, Comparative Analysis, Youth, Exercise, Cross Cultural Studies, Evaluation Methods, Research
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. 1900 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 800-213-7193; Fax: 703-476-9527; e-mail: info@aahperd.org; Web site: http://www.aahperd.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A