How Daily Steps and Posture Vary Across Activity Levels

A bunch of people wearing tiny activity trackers on their thighs. Researchers studied these volunteers to see how their daily steps and postures changed depending on how active they were. They tracked 3547 people over seven days, classifying each day by the number of steps taken. Interestingly, the more steps people took, the more time they spent in different postures. At lower activity levels (fewer steps), people spent more time lying down and sitting. But when they hit 10, 000 to 15, 000 steps, they balanced their time between lying down, sitting, and standing upright. The researchers noticed something else. At lower activity levels, most steps were taken indoors. But as activity increased, people took more steps outside and during recreational activities. Also, steps taken inside were slower compared to those outside. This study shows that how people move and what they do changes a lot depending on their daily activity. Knowing this could help in creating better health messages to encourage people to be more active.