Health promotion by encouraged use of stairs

The national fitness survey for England concluded: “the high prevalence of physical inactivity suggests that it may be even more important for public health than attention to cholesterol, arterial blood pressure or smoking.”1 The prevalence and risk of inactivity in the United States led the American College of Sports Medicine to issue guidelines suggesting that sedentary adults should have at least 30 minutes of accumulated moderate physical activity on most days of the week.2 To achieve this target the members of the public should be encouraged to add activity into their daily routine at every opportunity. This study investigated whether Scottish commuters or shoppers would respond to an intervention consisting of motivational signs encouraging them to walk up stairs rather than take an escalator. Signs saying “Stay Healthy, Save Time, Use the Stairs” were placed …