HEALTH PROMOTION, AGING AND OBESITY: LEARNING BY DOING - THE CAMINÁGUA PROJECT, AN EXPERIENCE IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Abstract

Studies on health promotion for the elderly population in Brazil have emphasized conventional biomedical treatment, with little importance given to health prevention or treatments considered “unconventional,” as the Caminágua Project can be called. It was developed based on clinical observations made with a university community, based on an extension project carried out at a public higher education institution. The goals of the project were to provide elderly individuals, obese and overweight and/or those with prognostic comorbidities, with substantial loss of fat mass and gain of muscle mass, through the implementation of physical exercise, offering the minimum impact on the lower joints and the spine. Supported by classical and contemporary references of human and social sciences in health, the research was supported by the historical-dialectical method, observing both the theoretical concepts of approach and the techniques of understanding reality and statistical control of data. The objectives of the research are: a) to verify the effectiveness of the Caminágua method in the population studied, by measuring a physical diagnosis at specific times, verifying changes in body weight; b) to verify the efficiency of physical exercises, based on the results shown. It is ensured that the approach and analysis of the empirical data collected is based on a quantitative view of the information and that they were recorded from a sample gathered from the social actors in the research universe. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the Caminágua Method developed during the field research, which has contributed greatly to the promotion of health among the elderly, in addition to collaborating greatly with public health policies, becoming an alternative treatment to conventional biomedical treatments.