dunroving

Make sure you spend about £20 as cheaper ones often are rubbish and often don't count accurately at all. It can be frustrating to go for a long walk and find you only added 400 steps!

between two worlds

Thanks for the tip!
And do they still need to be calibrated to your individual pace/step length first? I guess so, it couldn't work otherwise.

Maybe i will just get a smartphone with my pending phone upgrade anyway and a fitbit like all the techies!

dunroving

If you just want accurate measurement of steps, there is no calibration needed. Some makes and models (e.g., Omron) require fiddly set-up and calibration of "step sensitivity" and I'd steer clear of them.

If you want a pedometer that also gives you an ESTIMATE (note capital letters, that's al it is) of distance walked, based on steps, then you will need to input either your height or stride length, depending on the model. Personally I think steps is all you need. On average, 2,000 steps is a mile (that's where the word comes from - milia passuum (sp?) is Roman/Latin for "1,000 paces" (a pace is a double-step). One mile was the distance a Roman Legionnaire walked in 1,000 paces (2,000 steps).

If you mainly want to monitor your walking during purposive walks (i.e., not during the whole day but just when you "go out for a walk"), there are loads of good phone apps that either measure steps or using GPS, map your distance and route. MapMyWalk is a good one, and the Landranger app tracks your location and tells you after your walk how far, how fast, how much elevation, etc. If you get lost, it also will tell you where you are!

between two worlds

Thank you--that's so helpful!

Of course (no duh!) the step calibration I was thinking of applied to wanting to get a measurement in miles of how far I'd walked. That was what we were all aiming at then, (in Weight Watchers), rather than counting steps, as I recall.

And of course I can work out (roughly, taking into account my short legs!) the mile distance from the number of steps, as you point out--and thanks for the reminder about the Latin, as a Latin A level student many years ago I should have remembered that….

thanks for the tips.

Mummy in the foothills

yes it's some friends, my typo. Although the D is starting to resemble my belly shape

Is there an iPhone app that tracks distance walked or steps I wonder.

aries

I've used an Omron Vital Steps Counter since 2009, and once I adjusted its sensitivity by counting a certain number of steps myself a few times, it has an accuracy of about 95%.

Omron Vital Steps Step Counter

I knew it was initially wrong in Berlin in 2009 when it recorded about 13,000 steps one day, but once it was adjusted, I found I had walked only about 8,000 steps. Thus it is wise to first count steps yourself and check it with the number stated by the Omron.

I've also found that it can vary depending on where it is clipped.

As a note, I received it free with an Omron blood pressure monitor!

dunroving

There's not one, there are dozens!

We have even developed 5 different stepping Apps (FYI, Android = app, iPhone = App), but we can't put them on the Apple Store because they were developed using a research coding license.

We've also developed a music app to use on Android, but it's also not available yet. It uses music degradation to let you know if you are walking fast enough to get health benefits.

Mummy in the foothills

I have downloaded one to try out and see how far I walk at work tomorrow. I know it must be miles, I wonder how many.
Just have to remember to turn it on

jasper123

I have a question for you all, how often do you have an eye test? and how often do you replace your lenses?
One thing I find with comparing the UK to the USA ---- most people here in UK seem to get there eyes checked every year, I think the charges here are a lot lower then in the U.S. and for the over 60's we get a free eye test from any optician each year, and also a discount on glasses,
Speaking for myself when I was living in the U.S. I only took a visit to the optician when my old glasses didn't seem to work as well any more, usually a good 5 years would pass between visits, ------ how about you?

And what about ----- dentists? how many of you have a check up every 6 months? ---- everyone I know over here in the UK do, but in all those years I lived in America I would only go to the dentist whenever I got a tooth ache, or whenever it was obvious that I needed work done, but I never had a regular check - up, I think in the U.S. I just knew that even with good health insurance from my employer I still would have to pay at least 50% of the bill, and the dentists are so expensive in the U.S. ----- over here in UK if you go to a NHS dentist the charges for most dental work even for dental surgery are quite cheap in comparison.

lf1

hi Rodney,

In Canada I had my eyes checked every two years, by an an opthamolgist, so I am now long overdue for a checkup here. Not sure how it works here, I assume I just pick an opticians shop and make an appointment.

As for the dentist, I had my teeth cleaned and checked every six months and continue the same practice over here.

Perth

Any info on NHS dentists would be appreciated here too. OH has a lot of work to do. Since he does not have dental coverage under Medicare here in the US, we are trying to decide whether we should fork out the money and do it here or wait until he gets there and do it for less. From what I remember, dentists there are not as good as they are here, and I wonder if it will be a matter of getting what you pay for.

Fish n Chips 56

Rod Id get a dental check up every 6 months if I where you.

You might be amazed to know that dental issues can lead to heart issues, and as my Mum used to say prevention is better than cure.

Jerseygirl

We've received much better treatment in the US than we ever did in the UK. Our U.S. dentist actually tried to talk us out of spending money unnecessarily. For example...I wanted a wisdom tooth crowned...my dentist tried to talk me out of it because of the high cost of crowns vs extraction.

Amaike

I'm new to this thread and interested to hear from people who returned to UK after more than a decade in Australia... there are lots of people earlier on in this or similar threads who were planning to move. How has it been once you settled back in home, after years away?

J.JsOH

I feel I received better quality of dental care in US compared to UK, yes, US charged highly, even suggested treatment that wasn't even necessary sometimes, but I believe my teeth are better for having had excellent care in the US.
I feel the NHS dentist wheels me in and out as quickly as they can, not really caring, only checking for major problems which I could probably have told them of myself. I usually got to NHS 6 monthly but she said to go only annually cos my teeth are in excellent condition (thanks to US care)

Eye care, my experience is that the eye doctors are similarly qualified and give equal care US and UK. I go annually in UK, last visit the Doc said i have begging of a cataract so best to keep going to monitor. Think it was 2 yrs frequency in US cos that what my plan provided and seemed sufficient.