This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Brian Vastag

JAMA. 2001;286:1306.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

As few as 3 hours of counseling by health care workers over 2 years can boost sedentary adults' physical fitness, according to a study from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). At the beginning of the trial, only 1% of volunteers met federal recommendations for physical activity. Two years later, about 20% did. Director Claude Lenfant said the results mean that time-crunched physicians and their staff can still have an important effect on patients' health.

The study of 874 adults compared three types of education and counseling, ranging from 4-minute "advice sessions" to regular telephone counseling and weekly support classes. For women, the more intense intervention led to more activity. However, for men the short sessions were just as effective as the long.

Fitness was measured by oxygen uptake during a treadmill test, while physical activity was self-reported. The NHLBI said the study is the first . . . [Full Text of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?