Walk Like the Amish - Fantastic Article!
Pedometers Show High Step Count, Low Obesity
How many steps per day are enough to keep you trim and prevent obesity? A
pedometer study of an Old Order Amish community showed that their average
man logged 18,000 steps per day and their average woman logged 14,000 steps
per day, and they had one of the lowest rates of overweight and obesity of
any community in North America.
Old Ways = Active Ways
While typical North Americans find logging 10,000 steps a day to be a
challenge, requiring dedicated walking time to accomplish, the Old Order
Amish achieved it with ease with their typical daily activities. In fact,
the only day their average dipped as low as 10,000 steps was on Sunday,
their "day of rest." The farming community was studied in March at a
moderate-activity time rather than high-activity time of year such as during
harvest. The Old Order Amish shun any technology developed after the
mid-1800's. This pre-electrical, pre-motorized lifestyle involves much
physical activity.
Pedometer Study
The 96 Amish studied wore pedometers for a week and recorded their daily
steps and other physical activity. They also calculated the Body Mass Index
(BMI) for each participant. Use of the pedometers and scales did not violate
Amish traditions because they were borrowed. The participants were men and
women, ages 18-75, in an Old Order Amish community in Ontario, Canada. The
study was published in the January, 2004 "Medicine & Science in Sports &
Exercise," and conducted by David R. Bassett, Jr. and associates of the
University of Tennessee.
High Activity = Lower Body Fat
None of the men were obese, and only 2 of the women were obese, an overall
rate of 4% obesity as measured as a BMI of 30 or more. This compares to
14.9% obesity rate in Canada and 30.9% in the USA.
Overweight rates were also far below average. Only 26% were overweight,
which is half of the rate for Canadians and one third the rate of the USA.
Of note is that the obesity rates for this community do not compare to that
of more sedentary Amish communities where they work in tourist shops and
furniture factories. In those communities the obesity rate is similar to
their non-Amish neighbors. It might be predicted that it is the
high-activity farming lifestyle that keeps this Amish community lean.
Eating Like the Amish
Their diet is not low-carb or low-fat. The study says, "The Amish diet is
typical of the pre-World War II rural diet. It includes meat, potatoes,
gravy, eggs, vegetables, bread, pies, cakes, and is quite high in fat and
refined sugar." But it is balanced with a high physical activity level. This
is more typical of marathon training or other endurance sport training,
where carbs are considered fuel rather than shunned. This Amish community
rarely snacks between meals and has limited access to fast food.
Up Your Activity
The moral of this story: modern lifestyles have greatly reduced our everyday
physical activity levels, yet we haven't reduced our food intake to match.
To prevent packing on the pounds, we need to move more and eat a little
less.