March 20, 2023 – People have taken fewer steps per day because the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and haven't yet returned to their old numbers, based on a study published Monday. JAMA Open Network.
The researchers examined the variety of steps recorded on fitness machines by about 5,500 people over a four-year period. Steps from January 1, 2018, to January 31, 2020 were considered pre-pandemic, and steps from June 1, 2020, to the top of 2021 were considered post-COVID. Most participants were white women with a mean age of 53.
“On average, people are taking about 600 fewer steps per day than before the pandemic began,” said study creator Evan Brittain, MD, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, based on CNN.
“For me, the main message is really a public health message – to raise awareness that Covid-19 appears to be having a lasting impact on people's activity behavior.”
The researchers found no significant association between step activity and gender or medical conditions equivalent to obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension or cancer.
People who were socioeconomically disadvantaged, under psychological stress and unvaccinated tended to take fewer steps, based on the study. Age also made a difference, but in a surprising way. People over 60 maintained their step count high, while people between 18 and 30 took fewer.
“In fact, we found that every 10-year reduction in age was associated with a 243 reduction in steps per day,” Brittain said, based on CNN.
A health care provider not involved within the study told CNN that the decline in steps amongst younger people could also be as a consequence of the proven fact that they usually tend to work in engineering, software and other jobs that allow them to earn a living from home.
“I think that's hard to interpret because it's only 600 steps, and you could argue that that's the number that some people just get on their commute and in their daily lives,” said Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver.
Nevertheless, the outcomes overall were concerning for the researchers. “These results suggest a sustained, widespread, and significant decline in activity following the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States,” they concluded.