Exploring the Impact of a Pedometer on Body Composition and Physical Fitness in a Cohort of U.S. Military Medical Students: A Pilot Study

Military medical professionals play a central role in preventing and treating obesity among America's warriors through training, medical care, and their personal example. Unfortunately, medical students in both undergraduate and graduate settings often experience declines in physical fitness. Pedometry has been demonstrated as one means of promoting fitness with 10,000 steps/day generally accepted as a key benchmark. With this in mind, we used pedometry as an incentive during the preclinical years to encourage students to adopt a more active lifestyle. Findings suggest that participants that consistently report meeting the 10,000 steps/day maintained or improved their aerobic fitness.