Take a stroll in the morning or the early evening in the Brazilian city of Recife, and chances are you’ll see lots of people exercising. Small wonder. Here in the fifth largest city in Brazil, officials in 2002 launched a program that offers free exercise classes in 21 public spaces between the hours of 5:00 and 9:00 in the morning and again at night. Physical education instructors teach calisthenics and dance classes to all comers.

And the residents of Recife have been flocking to join in. Since the program began, more than 100,000 have been enrolled each year and have been taught 888,000 exercise classes. That’s impressive enough. But a new study of the program also shows that current and past participants are three times more likely than those who never participated to continue leading physically active lives. The free classes, in other words, seem to inspire people to make lasting changes for the better.

“This is the first thorough evaluation of a program of its kind and highlights the importance of renewing public spaces and providing physical activity classes,” says Washington University professor Ross C. Brownson, PhD, who led the study. The Recife program, he believes, could serve as a model for similar programs in the U.S.

Eduardo J. Simoes, MD, director of the Prevention Research Centers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which helped fund the study, agrees. “We think this project is an effective strategy to stimulate life-long exercise. Coupled with healthy eating, physical activity can help prevent and control diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, resulting in improved quality of life and health.”

Fine words, those. Unfortunately, given the sorry state of many municipal and state budgets at the moment, it’s hard to imagine many locales offering free exercise programs–even if such initiatives would end up paying off in better health and lower medical care costs.

Until economic indicators perk up, we may have to rely on approaches that encourage people to take the initiative themselves, such as Live Healthy America. For more information about the program–and to track the progress of our favorite participating team, check out PDQhealth’s on-going series Good Luck, Ms.Fits!

© 2009 PDQhealth

Tags: Brazil, exercise, Keep Fit, Recife, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention