Written by Nicole Meadow, MPN, RD

So, by now you probably know that it is extremely important to be physically active on a daily basis… the next question is, “How can you possibly fit this into your family’s already busy schedule?”

Recent statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System suggest that approximately 35% of adolescents do not participate in regular physical activity, 45% of children do not play on any sports teams and only 29% of high school students attend daily PE classes.

So… how can you increase your family’s activity level and, therefore, improve their overall health?  Try using a pedometer!  Pedometers easily and conveniently measure the steps that each of us take throughout the day, called “lifestyle steps”. Walking is a great way to stay in shape and can be a fun way to increase your entire family’s level of physical activity.

Start by purchasing pedometers for all members of the family.  For the first week, just record the amount of steps taken by each member.  The following week set a goal of how many steps by which you want to increase your average daily total.  Eventually, adults should aim to take 10,000 steps per day to maintain a healthy weight status.  A study published in the June 2004 “Prevention Medicine” revealed that children ages 6-12 should aim to take approximately 12,000 (girls) to 15,000 (boys) steps per day to maintain a healthy BMI.

Try the following ideas to increase your daily lifestyle steps:
* Take the stairs, rather than the elevator, whenever possible
* Park at the far end of the parking lot
* Hide the TV remote and get up to change the channels
* Return the shopping cart all the way to the market
* Walk the dog
* When talking on the phone, walk around instead of sitting or standing
* Before or after dinner, make a family routine of taking a 15-20 minute walk together

Here are some interesting numbers you can keep in mind:
* 1 mile ≈ 2000 steps
* 10 minutes of walking = 1200 steps on average
* Bicycling or Swimming counts for 150 steps per minute
* Rollerblading counts for 200 steps per minute

Increasing the steps that you take each day will benefit the physical and mental health of both you and your family.  Now let’s get moving!