Cornell researchers and extension professionals in the Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors (BCERF) program have successfully prompted rural women to walk more regularly through a novel worksite intervention.

The findings from the Small Steps Are Easier Together study, published in Preventive Medicine (Feb. 25, 2010), could help working women limit obesity -- a prime risk factor for breast cancer among postmenopausal women.

"Unlike other risk factors, obesity is something that is preventable," said co-author Carol Devine, professor of nutritional sciences. "There is some evidence that sedentary behavior is also linked to higher rates of breast cancer, so we came up with a community-based approach to increasing activity levels."

Working with Cornell Cooperative Extension, the team recruited women at 10 small and midsized worksites in Delaware County, Schuyler County and the North Country region and shared advice on how to alter their offices' environment and culture to encourage more walking. The participants received pedometers to track their steps, formed walking groups with co-workers and posted trail maps of surrounding areas.

By the end of the 10-week study, more than half of the women met or exceeded their goal of walking 2,000 extra steps three days per week, and the percentage of sedentary women had declined to 26 percent from 42 percent.

"I attribute the success in part to the fact that each woman had weekly individualized goals based on beginning activity levels, and they also worked together on workplace changes and getting excited about walking as a group," said Barbour Warren, a research associate in the College of Veterinary Medicine who led the study's data analysis. "It's a model that is able to embed itself into working environments."

BCERF researchers targeted rural women because studies suggest that they are more apt to be overweight or obese.

"In general, women in rural worksites may not have access to the same health resources as women in more populated areas," Devine said. "They're not getting discounts for the gym, if there's a gym at all. They're usually driving to work, not walking or taking public transportation. They need simple, low-cost ways to boost their activity."

Jeanne Darling, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County, where more than 60 percent of adults are overweight or obese, said that participating worksites -- ranging from schools to nursing homes -- had embraced the Small Steps program.

"They've really taken ownership of it and thought creatively about how to make sustainable changes in their offices to promote better health," she said. "It's spreading through our communities as people see that they can make small lifestyle changes that have a big impact."

The study, part of a series of diet and exercise interventions that began in 2004, is funded by the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Co-authors include Mary Maley, BCERF extension associate; Martin Wells, professor of statistical sciences, and Laura Sugarwala '09.

Ted Boscia is assistant director for communications of the College of Human Ecology.