Younger People Saw the Biggest Decline in Steps
Investigators further analyzed the data to see what could be influencing the decline. Sex, obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses or conditions such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, or cancer didn’t factor into the number of daily steps.

“One of the biggest differences was age. People who were 60 and older had virtually no change in their activity levels. We saw the biggest reduction of activity in people between the ages of 18 and 30 years old,” says Brittain. Every 10-year decrease in age was associated with a 243 step reduction per day, he notes.

“These findings are fascinating, and one additional demonstration of how the pandemic has completely disrupted people’s lifestyle habits and behaviors,” says Silvia Saccardo, PhD, an associate professor in social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, who was not involved in the study.

The trends observed here are consistent with what Dr. Saccardo uncovered in her own research involving college students. “We also saw that steps went down during the pandemic, and they haven’t resumed their pre-pandemic level of activity,” she says.

In the early weeks and months of the pandemic, lockdown orders forced people to stay home, and that led to a change in habits, says Saccardo. “Psychological theories suggest that the more you repeat a behavior, the more used to it you get, and you can build habits that way,” she says.

Geography, Income, Education, and Vaccination Status Associated with Step Reductions
Geography made a difference, too. “We saw the biggest reductions in activity in people who live in the Northeast. That could be due to a higher concentration of urban areas in that region. Maybe people tended to walk more as part of their daily life [before the pandemic] and that stopped happening as much,” says Brittain.

Researchers also found that people with a lower income, less education, and who weren’t vaccinated also logged fewer steps.

Mental health surveys were also included in the research, and higher stress levels and more symptoms of depression were associated with taking fewer steps.

“Were people taking fewer steps because they were depressed, or were they depressed because they were taking fewer steps? We can’t tease that out from this data,” says Brittain.

Are Fitbit Wearers Representative of the Larger U.S. Population?
“This is an interesting study. I am not sure I find the results alarming because it is unclear whether the findings can be generalized to the whole U.S. population,” says I-Min Lee, MD, ScD, professor of at Harvard Medical School and professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Dr. Lee is a researcher and expert in step counts, but she was not involved in this study.

It's worth noting that this group was made up entirely of volunteers who already owned the tracking device. Participants were 72 percent female and 86 percent white, and close to 70 percent had a college degree, she points out. “The prevalence of obesity in the study was 12 percent compared to a national level of 42 percent — which is also not representative of the general population,” says Lee.

Previous research suggests that people who buy and wear activity trackers are healthier in general in pretty much every dimension of health, Brittain confirms. “But that may mean the effects we’re seeing in this cohort of generally healthier people are an underestimate of the trend,” he says.

Need to Get Back to Your Pre-Pandemic Step Count? Here Are a Few Tips to Get You Started
The average American walks between 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day, or about 1.5 to 2 miles, according to Mayo Clinic.

Taking more steps each day is associated with a host of health benefits, including dementia prevention and reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. There’s also evidence that upping your step count can reduce the risk of premature death from all causes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The benefits level off between 6,000 and 10,000 steps per day, depending on your age.

Wondering if your step count has taken a dive? If you wear a tracker, you could go back and compare your pre-COVID averages with what you’re currently logging.

If it’s lower, don’t get too discouraged, says Brittain. “Keep in mind that the thinking on moving and exercise has changed. We know you don’t have to get big chunks of exercise for it to have health benefits. There’s a lot of evidence that small periods of activity can add up,” he says.

With just a few tweaks, you could start to chip away at the deficit, says Brittain.

The Mayo Clinic offers a few tips on elevating your step game.

Walk while waiting. Early for an appointment? Take a walk instead of sitting when you're early for an appointment or school pick up.
Schedule workday walks. Put reminders in your calendar for short walking breaks (even if you work at home). Have a one-on-one meeting? Plan to walk and talk.
Park farther away. Choose parking spots farther away from the entrance to the grocery store or office.
Take the stairs.Taking the stairs can get your heart rate up a little, even if you are going down.