Americans Urged to Walk
Away from Obesity
Excerpt by Stephen Pincock, Reuters Health

A program that calls on Americans to take just a few steps toward weight loss is to be launched nationwide in May after signing up more than 100,000 citizens in Colorado.

America on the Move is the brainchild of Dr. Jim Hill and colleagues at the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Boiled down to basics, it encourages people to take 2,000 steps a day as a way to avoid piling on excess pounds.

The idea is based on the fact that, on average, Americans gain 1.8 to 2 pounds in body weight a year, Hill told a meeting of the Association for the Study of Obesity in London Tuesday. This equates to about 50 extra calories a day being stored as fat, or around 100 extra calories a day being eaten.

Walking about 2,000 steps a day can burn those 100 calories.

Although avoiding weight gain seems like a small hope in a nation where 65% of people are considered overweight or obese, Hill says that small, achievable goals are exactly what's been lacking in efforts to tackle obesity.

"We have to realize that what we're doing is not working," he said. "We will keep losing the battle unless we do something qualitatively different."

Another part of the problem is too much focus on diet and not enough on exercise, he said.

"Increasing physical activity is a necessary element," he said, "and I don't think it takes very much exercise to make a big difference."

With funding and support from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, private foundations and companies, Hill and his colleagues launched the Colorado program, which encourages people to buy a clip-on pedometer that counts the steps they take. The project has a Web site, www.coloradoonthemove.org.

The researchers are monitoring 500 people to assess the benefits and have shown that most people find it easy to incorporate the 2,000 extra steps into their day over a 14-week program. Indications are that exercise levels are sustained after the 14 weeks, and many people even lose some weight, Hill said.

The project has sparked interest from individuals and public health authorities across the country, prompting the Denver group to take the project national.

"It's rapidly becoming a real grass-roots movement," Hill said. "It's resonating with people."

The national project will be supported by the Department of Health and Human Services and funded in part by a walking-shoe manufacturer.

"We want to inspire Americans to make small changes," he said. "The outcome can be phenomenal."

"It's like saving a dollar a day--over 20 years it can really add up to something."

Reference Source 89

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