Occupational physical activity as an indicator of health and fitness

Recent government guidelines suggest that simply increasing physical activi ty, regardless of mode. leads to improved health profiles. This study exami ned the relationship between amount of work-related physical activity of Un ited States Forest Service (USFS) workers and 12 indicators of health and f itness. Subjects a;ere 110 USFS workers recruited from 8 separate USFS rang er stations in the Pacific Northwest. The associations between work-related physical activity and indicators of health and fitness indicated the 63 wo rkers who were physically active on the job dis played better overall healt h and fitness patterns as evidenced by higher aerobic capacity, lower body Car, and greater muscular flexibility than their 47 inactive peers.