Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of walking on physical health such as body composition, blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipids for residents in rural areas.
METHOD
Data were collected from 109 residents at 4 community health centers and during the 12 weeks' period between May and July, 2007 with quasi-experimental pre/post-test design. The data were processed with SPSS Win 12.0.
RESULT
69.5% of the subjects had chronic degenerative diseases such as hypertension, arthritis and diabetes mellitus. Also, 52.9% had overweight and 14.7% had excessive obesity. There were significant positive changes in BMI, blood pressure, blood glucose and LDL among obese residents. However, there was no significant difference in total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL among blood lipids.
CONCLUSION
This study showed that a 3 months' walking program had positive effects on physical health and it should be continued.

• Keywords: Walking;Body Composition;Obesity;Blood Glucose;Community Health Centers;