Dogs may be more than man's best friend; they may also
be a tool for losing weight, according to a new study that
shows making a commitment to walk a dog -- your own or someone
else's -- leads to increased exercise and weight loss.
The goal of the study, according to Rebecca Johnson, was
to encourage sedentary overweight people to exercise and
specifically to walk.
"We know that walking is good for people but we don't know
how to get people to continue to do it. We wanted to see
whether bonding with a dog might be a motivator to continue
walking," said Johnson, who is an associate professor of
nursing and director of the College of Veterinary Medicine's
Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction at the University
of Missouri-Columbia.
The dog-walkers in the study started by walking 10 minutes
per day three times per week and eventually walked up to
20 minutes per day 5 days per week. One group walked for
50 weeks while another walked for only 26 weeks.
For the study, the participants walked with loaner dogs
-- trained and certified "visitor" animals that were provided
by the Pet Assisted Love and Support (PALS) Program.
According to Johnson, the 50-week walkers lost an average
of 14 pounds during the one-year program. "That's a better
result than most of the nationally known weight-loss plans,"
she stated.
The walkers "bonded with the animals, improved their flexibility,
balance and ability to walk, lost weight and felt better
about themselves so it was a very positive thing all around,"
Johnson added.
It's important to realize, she said, that these were a
sedentary, economically disadvantaged group of people with
multiple chronic illnesses. Some had trouble walking even
10 minutes per day three days per week at the beginning
of the study but they gradually improved their ability to
walk.
"We had one lady," Johnson said, "who relied on an electric
scooter when she was outside of her apartment and by the
end of the 50 week program she was able to walk to the neighborhood
grocery store and back."
The 26-week walkers did not lose as much weight as the
50-week walkers "so we know that it takes a year see the
weight come off," Johnson said. Having a dog or being responsible
for walking someone's dog may be just the motivating factor
to keep people walking or encourage more people to walk,
she said.
- More articles on how Pets
enhance our health
Reference
Source 89
October
21, 2005
