Steps measured by pedometry and the relationship to adiposity in college women.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between steps per day and adiposity among college women. METHODS: This study was cross-sectional and included women ages 18-25. Participants wore a pedometer for 7 consecutive days. Body composition was assessed using air-displacement plethysmography. Height, weight, and waist and hip circumferences were assessed. RESULTS: The women took 10,119 ± 2836 steps per day. When divided into quartiles by steps, the top 2 quartiles of women in the study had significantly lower BMI, percent body fat, and waist and hip circumferences than the bottom quartile of women (P ≤ .05). Percent body fat was different between the bottom 2 quartiles and the top 2 quartiles (P ≤ .05). The odds of having a body fat of greater than 32% were reduced by 21.9% for every increase of 1,000 steps taken per day (P ≤ .05). CONCLUSIONS: Steps per day are related to body composition in young adult women, but this relationship weakens with progressively higher step counts. A reasonable recommendation for steps in young adult women that is associated with the lowest BMIs and body fat seems to be between 10,000-12,000 steps per day.

Author contacts for retrieval of data for a meta-analysis on exercise and diet restriction.

OBJECTIVES: The mode of contact and response levels of authors who had been asked to provide missing or incomplete data for a systematic review on diet and exercise interventions for weight loss was examined. METHODS: We contacted authors by electronic mail, letter, or both. Survival analyses were performed with the Kaplan-Meier method to determine differences in the proportion of responders over time among the different modes of contact and to determine whether response rates differed between authors from the United States and those from other countries. Logistic regression was used to determine whether the number of items requested and publication date influenced the likelihood of response. RESULTS: Two hundred forty-one (39.9 percent) studies had missing or incomplete data (e.g., sample size, age, caloric restriction, exercise amount, and so on). We were unable to locate ninety-five authors (39.4 percent). Of the remaining authors, forty-six authors (31.5 percent) responded to information requests. Time to respond differed by contact method (p < .05): e-mail (3 +/- 3 days), letter (27 +/- 30 days), and both (13 +/-12 days). Response rates from U.S. authors did not differ from those of other countries. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests poor success in the acquisition of essential information. Given considerable time and resources, weight loss studies require improved reporting standards to minimize the relatively unsuccessful attempt to contact authors for important and necessary information.