Publish date: 29 July 2025
Next time you are considering taking the lift instead of the stairs, you might want to stop and think twice.
The type of people who refuse to ever use a lift, and happily climb more than one flight of stairs, are significantly less overweight on average than people who take the lift most of the time.
This is according to study led by researchers at Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, which was published in the Journal of Public Health.
422 NHS staff at Tameside Hospital, including consultants, doctors, nurses and administrative staff, filled in an anonymous survey.
The survey asked how often they would choose to take the lift rather than climb more than one set of stairs, when given a choice between the two.
The study participants also self-reported their height and weight, which was used to calculate their BMI.
Those who said they would never take the lift had a body mass index (BMI) of 25.7 on average – just above the healthy BMI range and slightly overweight.
People who said they would take the lift more than 50 per cent of the time, however, had an average BMI of 29.5 – at the top end of the overweight BMI range and close to being obese.
It is not necessarily taking the lift which made the first group less overweight on average. But people who refuse to take the lift over the stairs could be more active in other ways which help keep weight gain under control.
People who said they never used the lift were also significantly less likely to report having health conditions linked to being overweight. These conditions included including diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and osteoarthritis.
This again suggests that people who choose the stairs have generally healthier lifestyles which could help to keep them well.
Professor Edward Jude, a consultant in diabetes and endocrinology at Tameside and Glossop IC NHS FT, said: “It is well-known that physical activity helps to maintain a healthy weight, but many people struggle to find the time, money, motivation or facilities to take part in leisure-time exercise.
"However, there may be a simple solution at work, or out and about, that is available to most people.
“That is the option to take the stairs instead of the lift, and the benefits of taking the stairs are high in number, for your weight, heart health, and general wellbeing.”
Professor Jude has suggested putting “encouraging and motivating” signs next to lifts, pointing out the health reasons for taking the stairs.
“These kinds of simple, low-cost nudges have been shown to change behaviour,” he said.
