NEW YORK (Reuters) — Signs advertising the health benefits of stair-climbing might get more people to forego that easy ride up the escalator, a study suggests.

British researchers found that mall shoppers were more inclined to choose the stairs over the escalator if signs, such as "Take the Stairs" and "7 Minutes of Stair Climbing Daily Protects Your Heart," were posted within easy view.

Over three weeks, stair-climbing increased by 190 percent on a staircase that carried one of these messages, and by 52 percent on a nearby, message-free set of stairs.

The findings are published in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

With obesity rates soaring in the UK, US and other industrialised nations, health experts say it's important to get as much "incidental" activity into the day as possible. That means making choices like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator, and walking instead of driving whenever possible.

For the current study, researchers first observed shoppers' use of two staircases flanking a bank of escalators in a mall. After three weeks, they had the risers on one of the staircases decorated with a colourful design, then observed shoppers for another three weeks.

Finally, they added health messages to the stair risers — and the shoppers were watched for another three weeks.

The researchers found that while the decorated steps alone did nothing to encourage stair-climbing, the message-adorned stairs spurred a large increase in the number of shoppers who took to the steps.

Simply climbing one set of stairs will not bring meaningful health benefits, the study authors point out. But consistently taking the steps — and coupling that with other incidental activities — could well do the heart good.

"The take-home message is that in order to benefit their health, individuals should climb stairs throughout the day, wherever they meet the opportunity," said study co-author Oliver J. Webb, of Kingston University in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Combinations of incidental activities throughout day could benefit people as much as a trip to the gym, Webb told Reuters Health.

He suggested that many people may find it easier to stick with such activities than with a gym membership.

Signs on public stairways could offer a simple, inexpensive way to encourage more incidental physical activity.

A key finding of this study, Webb noted, was that the number of people descending the stairs also rose after the health messages were added to the staircase — even though the messages weren't visible to shoppers heading downstairs.

This, according to Webb, suggests that people retained the message they'd learned on the way up.