The Correlates of Leisure Time Physical Activity among an Adults Population from Southern Taiwan

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Ying-Hsiang Huang¹  Jin-Shang Wu²  Feng-Hwa Lu²  Chih-Jen Chang²  Yi-Ching Yang²  Linda L Lin³  Yi-Ju Chen⁴ 

[1] Department of Family Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Taiwan, China;Department of Family Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Taiwan, China;Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, No.138, Sheng Li Road, Tainan, 70403, Taiwan, China;Graduate Institute of Physical Education, Health & Leisure Studies, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China;Graduate Institute of Physical Education, Health & Leisure Studies, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, China;Department of Family Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Taiwan, China;

关键词: Physical Activity;    Social Support;    Leisure Time Physical Activity;    Behavioral Attribute;    School Sport;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-427

 received in 2010-09-05, accepted in 2011-06-03,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAssessing the correlates of practicing physical activity during leisure time is important with regard to planning and designing public health strategies to increase beneficial behaviors among adult populations. Although the importance of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) is highlighted in many Western countries, there are not many publications on physical activity patterns, and even less on their correlates, in non-Western societies. The goal of this study was thus to explore the determinants influencing adults' leisure time physical activity (LTPA) in a city in southern Taiwan.MethodsA cross-sectional population-based study was conducted in 2007, using a standardized questionnaire. Energy expenditure was dichotomized into two groups based on the recommended levels of moderate physical activity from LTPA: ≥10 or < 10 MET·hr·wk-1. Logistic regression analyses were applied to the results.ResultsA total of 762 subjects with valid data took part in the study (mean age 53.8 ± 13.8 years). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found the following results: Age was positively associated with LTPA. Adults with stronger perceived convenience of exercise facilities (OR = 2.04; 95%CI = 1.28-3.24) and past exercise experience in school (OR = 1.86; 95%CI= 1.19-2.91) participated in more LTPA. Subjects with more general social support (OR = 1.66;95%CI = 1.13-2.44), greater knowledge about the health benefits of exercise (OR = 1.85;95%CI = 1.25-2.74), more sports media consumption (OR = 1.94;95%CI = 1.26-2.98), and higher self-efficacy (OR = 3.99;95%CI = 2.67-5.97) were more likely to engage in LTPA. Further analysis comparing different sources of social support showed only social support from friends had a significant positive association (OR = 1.73;95%CI = 1.14-2.63) with increased LTPA.ConclusionsLTPA in southern city of Taiwan showed some unique associations with age, socioeconomic status and media consumption that are not commonly reported in the Western World and similar associations with regards to psychosocial correlates of LTPA participation. Further studies from developing countries are warranted to highlight culture-specific differences in physical activity participation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Chen et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.