DoH backed start up boosts physical activity by labelling public buildings for calorie burn
17 September 2013 - A new start-up has been launched that aims to tackle obesity and promote fitness by labelling the stairs of the world for calorie burn.
The idea is grounded in behavioural economics and is designed to improve the health and wellbeing of office workers and commuters in cities around the world.
The StepJockey website allows any set of stairs to be mapped and rated for calorie burn in moments. Once stairs are rated, you can print off a set of FREE smart posters immediately or order a set of smart signs with NFC. All StepJockey smart posters and signs can be read by the StepJockey app allowing users to track their performance and share with colleagues.
The initiative is evidence-based, and in trials involving more than 250,000 stair/lift journeys, stair climbing increased by up to 29% when the building was equipped with StepJockey smart signs. When office workers were able to track and gamify their stair climbing, stair use jumped by over 500%.
Hertfordshire County Council participated in the trials and, according to Jim McManus, Director of Public Health for Hertfordshire, “The unique selling point of StepJockey is that it takes the evidence and insights from social and behavioural sciences and turns them into something simple and easy to take up. That means it is more likely to be adopted.
“We know the return we’ll get in terms of reduced electricity bills, lower carbon emissions and healthier employees will far exceed the small initial investment.”
StepJockey is founded by Helen Nuki, a behavioural economics expert and mother of four, had the idea after her seven-year-old daughter, Litzi, wondered why official signs, “Only tell you about the things that are bad for you”.
“StepJockey is about looking at the positive and promoting fitness for everyone a little bit at a time”, says Helen. “We tell people how many calories are in food but we don’t tell them where they can burn them off. Through StepJockey, we are offering the opportunity to put that right”.
It takes just one person to rate a set of stairs – a council building, public library or a community centre, say - to have a positive impact on everyone who uses that building.
StepJockey can also help local authorities, companies and organisations to meet their environmental targets by reducing carbon emissions linked to lift and escalator journeys.
To get started organisations can download free posters or order smart signs online at http://www.stepjockey.com. Alternatively, they can arrange a full site survey including the design and manufacture of bespoke, co-branded signs.
For more information, images and product details go to: https://www.stepjockey.com/.
StepJockey media contact:
Nina Whitby
44 203 397 8377
44 7870 279 521
Notes for Editors
Research and evidence:
In the trial the presence of signs significantly increased stair usage, with upward stair journeys increasing by up to 29%The most influenced by the intervention were people who were overweight (BMI over 25), infrequent takers of physical activity and women.When individuals were able to track and compare their progress stair usage increased five-fold.92% of new stair climbers said it would become a habit.
Links to key research findings on stair climbing and health can be found at https://www.stepjockey.com/science
Public health benefits:
An evidence-based way of increasing physical activity at a population level cheaplyEspecially effective among overweight groups and the less activeA simple intervention to describe centrally and pass on for local level implementationAllows easy and reliable monitoring and reporting of uptake and impact
Case study
Jane is 45 years old, weighs 75kg and is 172 cms tall and commutes to her job in the Housing Association in central London every day. She climbs up and down the stairs in Elephant and Castle tube station one a day and climbs up and down the stairs in her four-storey office in Victoria twice a day. Overall she burns an extra 76.5 calories per day by climbing the stairs. This equates to 17,595 calories per year (based on 230 working days in the year), which is equivalent to 8.5 days of food or 2.3kg of fat. Perhaps most important of all, the extra exercise moves her into the safe BMI range.
About StepJockey
The StepJockey initiative is backed by the Department of Health via the Small Business Research Initiative, a government scheme which promotes innovation in areas that bring public benefits.
For more information, images and product details go to: https://www.stepjockey.com/
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