PROJECT EXERCISE AND HEART: SERVING THE COMMUNITY FOR A DECADE

Abstract

Sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor for chronic disease development, and consequently regular physical activity can help to prevent and control these diseases. Thus, many public campaigns have been created to motivate people to become active, and many subjects are practicing exercises in public facilities. However, at these sites, physical practice is frequently performed without any professional advice, which increases its cardiovascular risks especially in people with cardiovascular diseases. To deal with this problem, the Exercise and Heart Project was created 10 years ago to prescribe secure physical activity to people who exercise in public facilities without supervision. The project has continuous activities in Fernando Costa park and in the USP University Hospital, and it also participates at public health campaigns. Throughout the years, the project evaluated more than 1,431 persons in the park, gave more than 2,109 stretching class, participated in more than 28 health events, trained more than 150 monitors, and published forty abstracts and nine complete scientific articles based on its data. In conclusion, the Exercise and Heart Project is a community extension activity of the university that takes the academic knowledge to the community, and also integrates extension, teaching and research.