A small study of 69 people in Switzerland, the results of which were announced at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, has shown that swapping to using stairs, rather than lifts and escalators, leads to better fitness, lower body fat, slimmer waistlines and a drop in blood pressure. The University of Geneva team estimated this translates to a 15% cut in the risk of dying prematurely from any cause.
The participants had, prior to the study, led sedentary lives (i.e. less than two hours of exercise each week, and climb fewer than 10 flights of stairs a day), and were then, over a period of 12 weeks, asked to use the stairs exclusively at work instead of taking the lift. The number of flights of stairs taken (i.e. climbing up or down one storey) rose from five per day to 23. By the end of 12 weeks, they had better lung capacity, blood pressure and cholesterol measurements, and lower weight, body fat and waist measurements.
The lead researcher is now calling for the findings to be confirmed by larger studies. The study has potentially important implications for busy working people who want to improve their health, building the physical activity into daily lives, particularly in the workplace.
Source: BBC News Online, 1 September 2008