Abstract

LOPEZ NUNEZ, Álvaro; MARIN MONROY, Cristina  and  CASTRO MOLINARES, Suly. EFFECTS OF USING STAIRS IN PHYSICAL HEALTH. Biosalud [online]. 2014, vol.13, n.2, pp.36-47. ISSN 1657-9550.

Introduction: Technological development is causing more sedentary populations thus increasing the risk of chronic diseases. Materials and Methods: Longitudinal description study in a population of 50 people from the Faculty of Medicine at Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia and officials from the Fernando Troconis University Hospital in Santa Marta who during 12 weeks used the stairs of the Hospital to verify the effects when comparing the initial, intermediate and final values. Results: Using the stairs led to a significant reduction in body mass index mean for measurements 2 versus 3 (p = 0.002) and 1 versus 3 (p = 0.023); the percentage of Body Fat showed significant differences between measurement 1 and measurement 3 (p = 0.022) while in the variable force, the good assessment presented a frequency of 68 % in the first measurement rising to 70% in the second measurement. Conclusions: Using stairs is an alternative to physical activity. The parameters that showed changes in 12 weeks using stairs are body mass index and body fat percentage.

Keywords : physical activity; anthropometry; body mass index; strength; physical endurance.

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