When it comes to walking, one study finds that Americans are lagging behind people in other developed countries, and that they have the waistlines to show for it.

“It’s not surprising that Americans walk less than people in other countries, but it was kind of surprising to quantify it and find out how much less they walk. It was literally almost half,” explains lead author David Bassett, PhD, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Bassett and his research team collected data from 1,136 American adults who wore pedometers for two days – from the moment they got up in the morning until they climbed into bed at night. The results were compared with similar step studies done in Australia, Japan and Switzerland.

The results show that, on average, Americans take 5,117 steps a day. Australians nearly double that with 9,695 strides. The Swiss clock about 9,650 daily steps, while the Japanese walk an average of 7,168 steps a day.

“We consider that people who take less than 5,000 steps per day are sedentary so Americans are knocking on the door of being pretty sedentary in their physical activity habits,” Bassett explains. “[Australia and Switzerland] are coming really close to what a lot of people believe, which is 10,000 steps a day is a really good level that indicates an active person.”

It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that the U.S. has the highest level of obesity among those four countries. Thirty-four percent of Americans are obese, compared to 16 percent in Australia, 8 percent in Switzerland and 3 percent in Japan.

“We think that our study offers some key reasons why the obesity rates are so much higher in the U.S. than other developed countries,” Bassett says. “We believe the additional walking other nations are doing is helping prevent weight gain and keep the obesity rates low.”

Bassett says he hopes Americans also step up their activity level in light of these results. He says a rough rule of thumb is there are 2,000 steps in a mile, so he suggests people at least start with that.

“You can break it up throughout the day. I think that’s how many in other countries are doing it,” Bassett says. “Many other countries have active commuting. So they might walk in the morning, take more steps at lunch and walk on the commute home. So they’re not doing it all in one chunk necessarily. “

Bashir A. Zikria, MD, works in the Department of Orthopedics in the Division of Sports Medicine at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md. He says this study also shows that we can’t blame our inactivity on the way we commute.

“In Australia, car use is almost as prevalent as the U.S., but they walk more than we do,” Dr. Zikria says. “We have to do the same thing. If that’s our lifestyle and we live in our cars, we have to do more exercising and leisure walking.”

Dr. Zikria says the pedometer is a great tool to help people walk more. He says pedometers are relatively inexpensive and easy to find. Some can even be found on watches or in smart phone applications. Without one, Dr. Zikria says people tend to overestimate what they're walking.

“People who use the pedometer actually walk more than those who don’t because they have a goal to strive for and a set number,” he explains.

If you don’t want to buy a pedometer, Dr. Zikria says use your car to help you determine a good walking path. Then park your vehicle and put on your sneakers.

“When you are driving home, use the gauge on your car to see how far a mile is and then you know if you walk it, it will be 2,000 steps,” Dr. Zikria says.

Dr. Zikria says walking is a good aerobic activity for anyone, especially people with arthritis. “It increases your heart rate. It’s low impact so it’s joint protective. And I think it’s just one of those things that goes through all age ranges,” he says. “Everybody can walk. And just doing an extra mile a day is not that big a deal. It’s manageable.”

The study was published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.