The physical fitness varied a lot among the individual employees; some had high and some had low aerobic power, ≤ 32 ml/kg*min, which is a lower limit for women in avoiding future illnesses [23].
Among the occupational group females at “school”, 43% before intervention and 60% after the intervention had a mean maximal oxygen uptake above 32 ml/kg*min. Comparable numbers among “administrators” were 45 and 58%, “care” 20 and 20% and “cleaning” 30 and 26%. Females at “school” and “administration” raised their physical fitness level significantly from BASE to FOLLOW UP (31 to 35 ml/kg*min and 32 to 35 ml/kg*min, respectively).
Comparison between the occupational groups and between women and men with independent samples t-test showed that “school” and “administrators” had the highest mean maximal oxygen uptake at FOLLOW UP and “cleaning” and “care” the lowest (28 and 29 ml/kg*min, respectively).
Effects of physical activity
The number of questionnaire answers in the intervention groups was 266 in total. The number among CONTROL was 74.