INTRODUCTION:

Workplaces are considered by the World Health Organization as one of the priority places for the development of health promotion actions, namely within the scope of work practices and healthy lifestyles (such as healthy eating, the practice of physical activity, prevention of obesity, professional stress, musculoskeletal injuries, among others).

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A review of guidelines and scientific articles related to health promotion was carried out, namely on physical activity in an occupational context. Pubmed, UpToDate and Clinical Key, World Health Organization and the Direção-Geral da Saúde were used as the main data sources and the research was carried out using the MeSH terms: “physical activity, health promotion, occupational health”. Publications between the year 2000 and 2022 written in English, Portuguese or Spanish were included.

OBJECTIVE:

A review of the current scientific literature on physical activity is carried out in order to contribute to the implementation and improvement of policies aimed at promoting health in the workplace, thus increasing its potential benefits.

DISCUSSION:

In light of new scientific evidence, all physical activity, regardless of the continuous duration of each practice period, has positive health effects. This implies an adaptation in the way of communicating about physical activity and in the way it is perceived, naturally translating a greater flexibility of behaviors and the potential for their integration, in different moments and contexts.

CONCLUSION:

The recent characterization of physical activity as something easy to integrate into everyday life, regardless of its duration, brings a new vision in the approach to promoting physical activity, imposing the adaptation of strategies and policies that promote this área, namely at occupational level.

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