WeWarders walk less during cold periods: myth or reality?

First and foremost, the WeWard team would like to congratulate you for managing to maintain an excellent average step count despite the drop in temperatures. The average step count between January 10th and 20th stands at 6,984 for the whole of France!

This figure demonstrates your daily commitment to walking, which we are proud to promote every day.

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An average decrease of 293 steps per day
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For this study, we compared the cold period experienced by the French (from January 10 to 20, 2024) to the period before the end-of-year holidays (from December 13 to 23, 2023). The temperature data was retrieved using the online service Open Weather Map.

Accompanied by an average temperature drop in France of 5.98°C (42.764°F) and numerous snowfalls, this correlation underscores a trend: the colder it is, the less inclined people are to walk.
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Specific case of major cities:

➡️ Paris: The French capital recorded an average decrease of 357 steps, with a temperature drop of 7.23°C (45.014°F). Before the cold wave, Parisians averaged 7,846 steps per day, a number that falls to 7,489 during the coldest periods.

➡️ Lille: In Lille, the decrease averages 297 steps for a temperature drop of 8.44°C (47.192°F). The residents go from 7,580 to 7,283 steps.

➡️ Lyon: Lyon shows an average decrease of 325 steps, with a relatively moderate temperature drop of 3.85°C (38.93°F).

➡️ Strasbourg: Strasbourg has the largest decrease with an average of 447 fewer steps, for a temperature drop of 4.98°C (40.964°F). The Strasbourg residents, accustomed to harsh winters, see their average step count reduced from 7,735 to 7,288.

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Analysis of the results: How did we conduct our study?

The relationship between the decrease in the number of steps and the drop in temperature varies from city to city. In Lyon, for example, each degree of decrease results in a reduction of 84 steps, which contrasts with Lille where the same decrease only results in 35 fewer steps.The city of Strasbourg is the one that lost the most steps per degree: 90 steps, compared to 49 for Paris!

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We selected the period from December 13 to 23, 2023, as the one before the cold wave to avoid biases related to atypical behaviors during the holidays, and from January 10 to 20, 2024, for the cold wave. We then targeted 2,604,100 users of the application located in France during these intervals.For a more granular analysis, we focused on specific cities, including Paris with 738,700 users, Lyon with 124,349, Lille with 122,440, and Strasbourg with 47,999 users, in order to capture regional nuances.

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