摘要：Introduction: Obesity has become a public health crisis,and many developed and developing countries are struggling with this problem. In the same perspective,level of physical activity has been identified to be the prime risk factor for the increasing prevalence of overweight,obesity,and chronic metabolic diseases. Objective:The present study aimed to investigate the effects of an eight-week walking program on body adiposity,fasting blood glucose and lipid profile of university students and staff. Method:Twenty-three individuals participated in the study (8 men and 15 women),organized into three groups: without exercise (WE), low attendance (LA) and moderate to high attendance (MHA).For the intragroup analysis (pre versus post),the Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test was used. For intergroup analyzes,the Kruskal Wallis test was used,adopting a significance level of p<0.05. Results: In both the intra- and intergroup analyzes,the walking program did not cause significant changes in adiposity and fasting glucose.Regarding lipid profile,the WE group presented a significant increase in total cholesterol (pre: 150.12 ± 46.63 mg/dL;post: 181.87 ± 33.24 mg/dL) and LDL (pre: 91,62 ± 30.02 mg/dL;post: 117.12 ± 40.98 mg/dL) in the intra and intergroup analysis. In the MHA group,no significant changes were observed in any of the variables analyzed. Conclusion:The walking program had a protective effect on the lipid profile,but it had no effects on adiposity and fasting blood glucose.Despite the limitations identified in this study,it can be admitted that walking is a simple and easy strategy to execute,with low operational costs,and being effective for improved health among university community members.
