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Are pedometers adequate instruments for assessing energy expenditure?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 63, pages 1425–1432 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

Assessing energy expenditure (EE) is important for the control of obesity. Daily step counts have become popular and constitute one practical technique for evaluating the physical activity (PA) in large population studies. However, information on the capacity of pedometers to track EE in free-living conditions remains scanty.

Subjects and methods:

The 24-h EE of 71 healthy adults was measured by indirect calorimetry in a large respiratory chamber. Two accelerometers were attached to the waist, one for counting the total daily steps (ACCSTEP) and another for measuring the anteroposterior whole body acceleration calculated as the root mean square of the acceleration signal at every second (ACCRMS).

Results:

The ACCSTEP was not associated with PA-related EE (PAEE) or 24-h EE. Body weight (BW) was the main determinant of both the values (explaining 30 and 75% of the variance, respectively). Approximately 8% (P<0.001) of the variance in PAEE was attributed to the ACCRMS after BW was accounted for, whereas the ACCSTEP did not explain any additional variance. A multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that BW, height and ACCRMS were highly significant determinants of 24-h EE and accounted for as much as 83% of the total variance.

Conclusions:

Recording the number of steps per day does not provide accurate information on EE, and at best is only a crude predictor of the general PA in terms of displacement. In contrast, accelerometry signals are considered to be a more meaningful factor in the assessment of EE rather than step counts under sedentary conditions.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the participants for their cooperation, as well as the Japanese associations/groups in Switzerland. We express our thanks to Professor M Shindo at the Fukuoka University, Dr Y Yoshitake at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, Dr M Yoshioka at the Laval University Medical Center and the members of the Laboratory of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Sports and Health Science, Fukuoka University, for their valuable assistance in making the preparations for this study. We thank Dr T Philippe for the accelerometry data analysis and Mr P Olivier for technical assistance in respiratory chamber measurements. HK was involved in study design and implementation, data collection and analysis and writing the manuscript. YS contributed to manage the study design, data acquisition and interpretation and editing of key aspects of the manuscript. HT obtained the funding and set up the study design and editing of the manuscript. This work was supported in part by the Fukuoka University Institute for Physical Activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Sports and Health Science, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan

    H Kumahara & H Tanaka

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Y Schutz

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  1. H Kumahara
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Correspondence to H Kumahara.

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Kumahara, H., Tanaka, H. & Schutz, Y. Are pedometers adequate instruments for assessing energy expenditure?. Eur J Clin Nutr 63, 1425–1432 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2009.108

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