Researchers
in the Netherlands provided 131 municipal employees written materials
and seven individualized, 20-minute physical activity and nutrition
counseling sessions tailored to the person’s readiness for change.
A comparison group of 168 employees received only the written materials.
Before and after the nine-month program, the researchers used fitness and
health tests, a questionnaire and interviews to measure each person’s
physical activity and fitness levels.
Employees who received both the written materials and one-on-one counseling
increased their levels of vigorous physical activity during the nine-month
study period. They also became more physically fit by improving their cardio-respiratory
fitness and lowering their blood cholesterol and body fat levels.
Among employees receiving only the written materials,
physical activity declined and heart rates increased — possibly
because much of the study took place during winter. As with the counseling
group, the materials-only
employees reduced their body fat and blood pressure levels, although
the counseling group had greater declines in body fat.
Significantly, the investigators also found that the worse
a person’s
baseline health profile, the greater the effect of the counseling program
on body composition, blood pressure and blood cholesterol.
The materials and counseling sessions used in the study
were based on the Patient-centered Assessment and Counseling for Exercise
and Nutrition
program. PACE is designed to motivate individuals to improve people’s
physical and eating behaviors by taking into account their actual behaviors
and their intentions to change those behaviors.
Based on their findings and those of similar studies of PACE in the United
States, the authors suggest use of workplace-based physical activity counseling
programs to boost the proportion of employees who are physically active
or fit.
“We recommend participation in physical activity counseling mainly for
people with a less-favorable health profile,” conclude Karin I. Proper,
M.Sc., and colleagues at TNO Work & Employment in Hoofddorp and the
Vrije Universiteit Medical Center in Amsterdam. “Even though persuading
such individuals to participate in physical-activity interventions is
difficult, such participation results in the largest health-related benefits
compared
to people with better health profiles.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more
than 60 percent of American adults are not regularly physically active,
and nearly half of American youth ages 12 to 21 are not vigorously active
on a regular basis.
Even moderate physical activity, such as raking leaves or brisk walking,
on most days of the week offers major health benefits, CDC experts say.
For example, modest, regular physical activity greatly lowers the risk
of dying of coronary heart disease; decreases the risk of colon cancer,
diabetes, and high blood pressure; helps to control weight; and reduces
symptoms of anxiety and depression.
The study was published in the April issue of the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine.
