The Journal of the American Medical Association has just published an article that opens the way for people to give a healthy gift this season - a pedometer. This little device - smaller than a pager - counts the number of steps you take during the day. It's pretty cheap, too; $2 and up. But check this before you buy.

The results of a meta-analysis are reported in the article. Eight randomized studies were analyzed, and they showed that, on average, participants with pedometers walked almost 3,000 more steps a day than those not wearing one. And by now we all know how healthy walking is, don't we?

Of course, you have to set a daily step goal if you want to achieve a health benefit. In eight studies of programs with 10,000 steps a day as a goal, the average increase from baseline was 3,000 steps. But in four studies without set goals, the average increase was only 690 steps a day. An additional finding - in those studies where body mass index (BMI) data were available, use of a pedometer was associated with an average 0.38 decrease in BMI.

The only problem: You may find that you are expected to join your giftee in a long walk to demonstrate your gift. Make sure you are going to be up for this, especially after Thanksgiving. And tell the recipient that a program that counts every step, not just steps taken during long walks, is more satisfying, according to the researchers.