MyGlasgow News

‌A team of staff in the administration department in the School of Humanities have been tracking the steps they take every day in a bid to become more active.

The fifteen members taking part in ‘The Pedometer Challenge’ are wearing pedometers to work each day and recording the number of steps they have taken in a league table.

The findings are recorded every week and in this case, steps mean prizes! On a monthly basis there are prizes for the individual who has taken the most steps and a prize for the biggest improvement.

Sitting disease

Michael Murray, Head of Administration in the School of Humanities came up with the idea after reading about the health risks of sedentary working practice.

He said: “I noticed a few recent articles within the media about the increased sedentary working practice within the UK, and some of the health risks this can create. This is often referred to as 'sitting disease'; and is particularly prevalent amongst office workers within the UK.”

Research has been carried out on the subject of sedentary lifestyles and an Australian study published in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity found employees who sit for long periods of time are at greater risk of psychological distress. Specifically, employees who reported sitting for longer than six hours per day had higher rates of anxiety and depression than those who sat for three.

Murray was keen to change mindsets and challenge staff to think about their working practices. He aimed to encourage the team to take lunch breaks away from the computer screen and cut down on email in a bid to clock up some more steps.

Cut down on email

Learning and Teaching Administrator, Keir Elder, said: “wearing the pedometer has made us far more conscious of our working habits, encouraging us all to remain more regularly mobile during the day. Not only has this seen an obvious health benefit, but it has also augmented relations with colleagues as we have also been more inclined to go and communicate on face-to-face terms, and therefore cut down on unnecessary email.”

Murray said: “Within the first couple of weeks, we’ve seen a 25% increase in the total number of steps taken and an increase in total by nearly 20,000 steps. That’s the equivalent of an extra 10 miles walked. It’s has been a fun way of team building which also has added health benefits.”

Murray hopes to continue with the project next year and has plans to include team wide prizes based on cumulative targets being met.

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First published: 16 December 2014