A pedometer is an easy to use instrument that counts your steps as you walk, run, hop-scotch and leap-frog. It’s also really fun to use! The first thing to do is get one. The Chico Public Library has pedometers you can check out for free, just like a book. Or, enter to win one of your very own (see red box below). Once you have one, wear it for a week, all day, every day (okay, maybe take it off when you go to sleep at night). Write down how many steps you took each day. After a week, you can calculate your average daily step count. Just add up the number of steps you took each day, and divide that number by the days you kept track. (For example, if you took 40,000 steps over seven days, that’s 5,714 steps a day.) Your goal should be to increase the number Brother Zach Nielsen car- of steps you take daily ries out some leap- until you reach 12,000 frog experiments at steps a day (10,000 Bidwell Park’s One steps a day for adults). Mile Rec Area.
Make a game out of using your pedometer!
Drew Nielsen gives us a look at one of the free pedometers being offered through OPT for Fit Kids.
• Wear your pedometer while playing— which activities make you take more steps? • “Compete” with your family members—who can take the most steps by dinner time?
How can you get more “steps” in your day?
• Take a hike! From the paved paths in Lower Bidwell Park, to the trails along the Feather River, Butte County has a lot of ways to get out in nature and get more active. • Park farther away from the entrance to the grocery store, library, mall, or gym. • Walk together to your local farmers’ market for the freshest fruits and veggies in town. The Chico Public Library offers pedometers to check out courtesy of the Step Fit Chico program brought to you by Chico Rotary and the Sierra Cascade Activity and Nutrition Consortium (SCNAC). For more information on how to increase your child’s fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity level, please call 5 a Day—Power Play! at 345-0633, or OPT for Fit Kids at 345-0678. You can also check them out online at www.scnutrition.org.
Enter to win a pedometer by mailing a postcard with your name, address, and age(s) with one way that you and your family can get more “steps” in your day. First 15 entries receive a free pedomenter! Mail entries to: “Growing Up Chico Pedometer Contest” 973P East Ave, Chico, CA 95926
Photos by MaryRose Lovgren
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