Increasing Stair Use

Abstract

Letters6 April 1999Increasing Stair UseRoss Andersen, PhD, Shawn Franckowiak, BS, and Susan Bartlett, PhDRoss Andersen, PhDJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Andersen)Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Franckowiak)Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Bartlett)Search for more papers by this author, Shawn Franckowiak, BSJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Andersen)Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Franckowiak)Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Bartlett)Search for more papers by this author, and Susan Bartlett, PhDJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Andersen)Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Franckowiak)Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD 21224 (Bartlett)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-130-7-199904060-00015 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We thank Drs. Reisman and Gross for their interest in our recent investigation. They raise the interesting point that we still do not know the minimal exercise threshold from which health benefits are derived. However, Boreham and colleagues (1) recently reported that sedentary college students could significantly improve physical fitness and serum lipid profiles by accumulating short bouts of stair-climbing throughout the day.The results of our study do suggest that when prompted with simple messages, people can be prompted to adopt healthier behaviors. Although clearly not optimal, getting people to increase physical activity even a little bit ...