Caloric sxpense in daily and labor activities of cycling postmen

Abstract

The study aimed to identify lifestyle behaviors and to quantify caloric expenditure in daily and labor activities of bike postmen (employees from CORREIOS - Brazilian Postal Services) of the city of São José – SC – Brazil. The methodology used an interview using the IPAQ questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and records of daily activities (measuring time spent in selecting mail, and in delivering it as well as monitoring speed and time during cycling). The caloric expenditure was estimated by using body mass and mean speed of delivering mail, which corresponds to 4 METs. From descriptive analyses of the data, a confidence interval scale was created. Twenty-three subjects composed the sample with mean age of 31.3 yrs (sd 6.3), body mass of 73.4 kg (sd 9.6), stature of 1.74 m (sd 0.05) and IMC of 24.4 kg.m-2 (sd 2.9). The results indicated that the majority of subjects had healthy lifestyles. Mean daily caloric expenditure in selecting mail was 590 kcal.day-1 and in delivering it was 1818 kcal.day -1 . Daily labor activities of bike postmen were a positive factor of their health-related physical fitness components.