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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
Using a Real-Time Locating System to Measure Walking Activity Associated with Wandering Behaviors Among Institutionalized Older Adults
Published on: February 8, 2019
Fifteen-year longitudinal trends in walking patterns and their impact on weight change
Penny Gordon-Larsen1, Ningqi Hou, Steve Sidney
1Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-3997, USA. gordon_larsen@unc.edu
Background:
Although walking is the most popular leisure-time activity for adults, few long-term, longitudinal studies have examined the association between walking, an affordable and accessible form of physical activity, and weight gain.
Objective:
The objective was to evaluate the association between changes in leisure-time walking and weight gain over a 15-y period.
Design:
Prospective data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study of 4,995 men and women aged 18-30 y at baseline (1985-1986) from 4 US cities and reexamined 2, 5, 7, 10, and 15 y later. Sex-stratified, repeated-measures, conditional regression modeling with data from all 6 examination periods (n = 23,633 observations) was used to examine associations between walking and annualized 15-y weight change, with control for 15-y nonwalking physical activity, baseline weight (and their interaction), marital status, education, smoking, calorie intake, and baseline age, race, and field center.
Results:
Mean (+/- SE) baseline weights were 77.0 +/- 0.3 kg (men) and 66.2 +/- 0.3 kg (women), weight gain was approximately 1 kg/y, and the mean duration of walking at baseline was <15 min/d. After accounting for nonwalking physical activity, calorie intake, and other covariates, we found a substantial association between walking and annualized weight change; the greatest association was for those with a larger baseline weight. For example, for women at the 75th percentile of baseline weight, 0.5 h of walking/d was associated with 8 kg less weight gain over 15 y compared with women with no leisure time walking.
Conclusion:
Walking throughout adulthood may attenuate the long-term weight gain that occurs in most adults.
