Two-year follow-up of a brisk walking programme on fitness, perceived health and physical activity engagement in postmenopausal women

• Published in: Health education journal Vol. 83; no. 6; pp. 638 - 649
• Main Authors: Garnier, Sophie, Joffroy, Sandra, Thon, Bernard, Auneau, Gérard, Mauriège, Pascale
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.10.2024; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Blood pressure; Body composition; Body fat; Body mass index; Body size; Body weight; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Control Groups; Diet; Exercise; Females; Health education; Health status; Heart rate; Middle age; Obesity; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Population studies; Post-menopause; Postmenopausal women; Resting; Sedentary; Sedentary people; Walking; physical activity engagement; health education strategy; Brisk walking; menopause; long-term benefits
• ISSN: 0017-8969; 1748-8176
• DOI: 10.1177/00178969241269016

Objective: Brisk walking helps postmenopausal women to maintain body weight and fat mass losses as well cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and to feel better. However, these long-term benefits have not been fully examined. The aims of this study were to compare the effects of a 2-year follow-up with those of a 4-month walking programme on body composition, resting blood pressure (BP), CRF and perceived health of 248 sedentary postmenopausal women (60 ± 5 years) with overweight-to-moderate obesity (body mass index, BMI, 30 ± 4 kg/m2). Method: From the study-population, 196 women engaged in an outdoor walking programme consisting of three sessions of 45 minutes/week at 60% of their heart rate reserve (initially exercised, IEx, group), and another 52 formed the initial control group (ICo). Ninety-one IEx and 18 ICo women were re-examined 2 years later, for all outcomes. Results: In IEx women, decreased body weight, fat mass and BP versus the increased CRF (.0001 < p < .001) as well as improvements in four on six items of perceived health (.0001 < p < .05) were maintained at follow-up. In ICo women, reduced BP and improved perceived healthy balanced diet were the only benefits at follow-up (p < .05). Of the 91 IEx women, 70 remained physically active (60 minutes/week), and 46 of them engaged in physical activity more than 150 minutes/week. In ICo women, 16 became physically active (60 minutes/week), while 9 of them reached 150 minutes/week. Conclusion: The regular practice of brisk walking in greenspaces could thus be considered a useful health education strategy for middle-aged women.