Volume 31, Issue 4: August, 2004

Abstract

Walking Patterns in a Sample of African American, Native American, and Caucasian Women: The Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study

Melicia C. Whitt, PhD, Katrina D. DuBose, PhD, Barbara E. Ainsworth, PhD, MPH, Catrine Tudor-Locke, PhD

This analysis describes walking patterns among African American, Native American, and Caucasian women from South Carolina and New Mexico. Walking was assessed using pedometer and physical activity (PA) record data based on 4 consecutive days on either three (Study Phase 1) or two (Study Phase 2) occasions. Participants walked 5,429 ± 2,959 steps per day and recorded 159 ± 59 minutes per day of total walking in the PA record. Most daily walking was accumulated during household (46%), transportation (26%), occupation (16%), and exercise-related (10%) walking. There was a modest correlation between steps per day and minutes per day. Steps per day were higher with education and household size, and lower with increasing age and body mass index. These findings have implications for developing PA surveys and for planning interventions related to walking patterns among women.