Method: Walk4life MVP pedometer assessing both total steps and MIS was the tool used in the study. Each of 184 university students (61 females) set a treadmill at speed of 2.5 mph (the threshold of moderate PA/walking based on Ainsworth, 2000) and walked on it for one minute to find personal steps per minute (SPM) at moderate PA/walking, which was entered in the pedometer for assessing MIS. Participants then wore the pedometer for a week assessing steps. Descriptive statistics and repeated-measures ANOVA were used for data analysis.
Analysis/Results: Average SPM at speed of 2.5 mph was 97.70±6.79, 103.23±7.92, and 99.89±25 for males, females, and the entire sample respectively, very close to 100 steps/minute. Mean and SD values of weekly total steps for males, females, and entire sample were 80,387.21±22,939.30, 74,364.48±27,859.01, and 76,361.15±26,430.20 respectively. The corresponding values of MIS were 56,437.89±17,823.67 (70.27% of total steps), 47,593.52±11,349.85 (63.99% of total steps), and 50,576.57±13,997.88 (66.26% of total steps). Differences between total steps and MIS for males, females, and the entire sample were all significant (p < .001). Additionally, percentages of participants who did not reach 70,000 total steps, 15,000 MIS, and 30,000 MIS were 42.4% (n = 78), 2.2% (n = 4), and 3.3% (n = 6), respectively.
Conclusions: While most steps were MIS among university students, differences between percentage of students meeting 70,000 total stepts and the percentage meeting 15,000 or 30,000 MIS are large. Given that total steps or the recommendation of 70,000 septs/weekly may contain a large portion of light-intensity PA/walking, 15,000 or 30,000 MIS/week might be used as an alternative step recommendation for university students.
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