An examination of eating attitudes and physical activity levels of Turkish university students with regard to self-presentational concern

This study aimed to examine eating attitudes and physical activity level of young women and men university students with regard to social physique anxiety level. 482 university students participated in this study voluntarily. “Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40)”, “Social Physique Anxiety Scale” and “Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire” were used to assess the eating attitude, social physique anxiety and physical activity level of participants, respectively. Women and men participants in this study were assigned to high (HSPA) and low (LSPA) social physique anxiety groups with respect to their median scores. Men had favorable eating attitudes and higher physical activity level than women. In addition, participants in the HSPA group had unfavorable eating attitudes and higher physical activity MET values than participants in the LSPA group. On the other hand, group × gender interaction was only significant for the eating attitudes scores but, not for physical activity level. Women in the HSPA group scored higher on the EAT-40 than men in HSPA and women and men in the LSPA groups.     

Barriers to physical activity in university students with disabilities: Differences by sociodemographic variables

Background

Despite the positive effects of regular physical activity (PA), university students with disabilities are less active than their able-bodied peers, which could be due to the wide range of barriers to PA that these individuals face across all social ecological levels.

Perceived barriers to weight maintenance among university students in Kuwait: the role of gender and obesity

Objective

To investigate the barriers to weight maintenance among university students in Kuwait by gender and obesity.

Methods

A sample of 530 students was selected at convenience from four universities in Kuwait (2 public and 2 private). The age of students ranged from 19 to 26 years. A self-reported pretested questionnaire was used to obtain the barriers, which were divided into barriers to healthy eating and barriers to physical activity. Weight and height were based on self-reporting, and the students were grouped into non-obese and obese according to the WHO classification. The response options to barriers were: very important, somewhat important and not important.

Results

The main barriers to healthy eating for both genders were: “Do not have skills to plan, shop for, prepare or cook healthy foods” and “Not having time to prepare or eat healthy food”. In general, there were no significant differences between men and women in barriers to healthy eating. There were highly significant differences between men and women regarding barriers to physical activity (P values ranged from <0.001 to <0.016). “Not having time to be physically active” and “The climate is not suitable for practising exercise” were the main barriers reported. Obese men were more likely to face barriers to healthy eating than non-obese men. There were no significant differences between obese and non-obese women regarding barriers to healthy eating and physical activity.

Conclusion

The findings of this study can be utilized in intervention activities to promote a healthy lifestyle and to combat obesity in Kuwait, and maybe in other Arab countries.     

Mental wellbeing and physical activity levels: A prospective cohort study

BackgroundAlthough much research has been devoted to examining the relationship between negative mental health states (e.g., depression) and physical activity, the literature is scarce in terms of associations between positive mental health states (e.g., mental wellbeing) and physical activity. The objective of this study was to examine the association between mental wellbeing measured in 2019 and physical activity measured in 2020 (including bi-directionality).MethodsData stem from a Danish nationally-representative panel of 5000 adults (aged 15+ years) conducted in 2019 and 2020, which was linked to register data. The SWEMWBS scale was used to assess mental wellbeing. The outcome was ≥150 min of physical activity per week (self-reported). Logistic regression models were performed, adjusting for covariates and physical activity at baseline.ResultsEach point increase in mental wellbeing in 2019 positively predicted ≥150 min of physical activity per week in 2020 (OR = 1.03, 95%CI 1.01–1.05). Compared to low mental wellbeing, moderate wellbeing was associated with higher odds (OR = 1.51, 95%CI 1.10–2.08) of engaging in ≥150 min of physical activity, while the odds among those with high mental wellbeing were even higher (OR = 1.93, 95%CI 1.37–2.72). The results reflected a dose-response pattern. Finally, the reverse pathway was noted as well, i.e., physical activity in 2019 positively predicted mental wellbeing in 2020.ConclusionsThe results show that favorable mental health status – beyond the absence of mental illness – positively predicts adherence to recommended physical activity levels in the following year. Initiatives to promote mental wellbeing may be instrumental as a means to protect and enhance general health by positively influencing engagement in physical activity. Conversely, increasing physical activity levels may protect against mental illness and further enhance population mental wellbeing.     

A description of physical activity behaviors,barriers, and motivators in stroke survivors in Quebec

BackgroundStroke survivors do not meet physical activity (PA) recommendations to accrue the associated health benefits. Perceived barriers and motivators to PA can be influenced by geographic and cultural nuances that are important to consider when developing stroke-specific PA interventions.ObjectiveThe objectives of this study were to describe PA duration and frequency, barriers and motivators to PA, and to explore sex and ages differences in PA among stroke survivors in Quebec.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was used to recruit Quebecers through special interest groups and word-of-mouth that experienced a stroke (≥ 18 y, ≥ 1 y post-stroke). Twenty-one survey items were related to demographic information, PA behavior, barriers and motivators to PA, and physical inactivity. Summary statistics were calculated using SPSS.ResultsThirty individuals who were 7.6 ± 8.3 years post-stroke completed the survey. Light intensity aerobic PA was reported by 97% of participants, moderate intensity PA by 70%, high intensity by 30%, and 37% reported doing strength training. Barriers to PA were fear of falling (47%), not feeling comfortable participating in PA at a gym (33%) and lack of energy (30%), while motivators included, improving physical condition (87%), feeling good (67%) and reducing risk of subsequent stroke (70%).ConclusionOur findings show that 30 stroke survivors from Quebec did not achieve the minimal PA recommendations. Alternative approaches to PA should consider accessibility, safety, and enhancing fitness to optimize PA participation for stroke survivors living in Quebec.     

Why and how to improve physical activity promotion: Lessons from behavioral science and related fields

This commentary highlights the importance of regular physical activity to the nation’s health and discusses some of the major challenges and opportunities currently facing the field.     

Promoting physical activity and exercise in older adults

Although the benefits of increased physical activity and exercise are universally recognized, many older persons remain sedentary, and relatively few achieve recommended levels of activity. Effective interventions to reverse the lack of physical activity in older adults are clearly needed. By understanding correlates of inactivity and appreciating those factors that contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, appropriate strategies can be employed to help order patients reap the benefits of increased physical activity and exercise. In this article, we offer to the reader a brief overview of the field as well as our own thoughts on how clinicians might help individual patients at a more practical level.     

Web-based interventions to promote physical activity by older adults: promising perspectives for a public health challenge

Regular physical activity is associated with a wide range of health benefits. As population age, promotion of physical activity should specifically target older adults, an expanding group involving potential higher health care costs in the near future. Innovative interventions focusing on physical activity behaviors of senior adults exposed promising results, most recently through the use of the Internet. If seniors and Internet are generally considered as two opposite concepts, arguments in favour of bringing them together in a public health perspective have been identified by the recent literature. Older adults are the fastest growing group of Internet users and are more prone than younger to use it for health-related subjects. Web-based interventions are effective in many health promotion sectors, including physical activity. This is particularly true when interventions target the environmental determinants of each senior citizen and are specifically designed for this population. Those early research findings must clearly be extended, particularly regarding to the long term effects of Web-based physical activity interventions. Solutions that will reduce the high dropout rate recorded in the existing literature must also be considered as a priority in order to ensure the development of this forward-looking field of research.     

Planning to win: Health and lifestyles associated with physical activity amongst 15,423 adults

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess levels of physical activity in the general population and amongst the 'healthy', and to identify factors associated with this important health behaviour. DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional study. SETTING: North-west England. PARTICIPANTS: Adults (aged at least 18 years) registered with a general practitioner with a residential address within two local administrative districts (local authorities). MAIN RESULTS: Less than one-third of adults performed adequate amounts of physical activity for health protection, and this differed little when analyses were restricted to 'healthy' people. Lower levels of physical activity were observed amongst women, older people, ethnic groups, those with obesity and in each increased quintile of social deprivation. Current smokers, but not previous smokers, were less likely to be physically active, as were those not eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Lack of physical activity was associated with poor general health and a history of, or current, chronic disease. CONCLUSIONS: Concerted efforts are required by the Government, society and individuals to overturn our predominantly physically inactive adult population. Interventions may be needed which specifically target certain groups, especially the most socially deprived, and that consider individuals and societal barriers to becoming physically active. Evidence of the effectiveness of individual and population-based interventions remains scant and this needs to be addressed urgently.     

Modelling the impact of physical activity on public health: A review and critique

BackgroundWhile several reviews have assessed economic evaluations of physical activity in public health and, in most cases, found the interventions to be cost-effective, the validity of the conclusions reached depends on the appropriateness of the modelling methods used in the individual studies.ObjectiveTo provide an overview and critique of modelling approaches and key structural assumptions used in applied studies to estimate the impact of physical activity on population health.MethodsElectronic databases were systematically searched for relevant model-based economic evaluations. A thematic approach was used to assess the modelling studies. The critique determined the appropriateness of the modelling frameworks and plausibility of key structural assumptions.ResultsTwenty-five models were identified. Cohort models were most frequently used. High variability in the modelling of downstream diseases was found across studies analysing similar populations. Structural assumptions regarding the dynamics of change of physical activity were unrealistic in most cases. Heterogeneity was addressed in only a few studies, while health equity concerns were, at best, acknowledged by authors.ConclusionsThis literature is predominantly characterised by modelling approaches that may not adequately address the complexities associated with representing the physical activity behaviour- population health process. A consensus on how to model the impact of physical activity on public health and development of a reference model could help reduce these sources of uncertainty.     

Self-determination and stage of readiness to change physical activity behaviour in schizophrenia

PurposeThe present study examined whether reasons for physical activity, as formulated by the self-determination theory, differed across the stages identified by the transtheoretical model of behaviour change.MethodsA total of 129 persons with schizophrenia completed the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 and the Patient-centred Assessment and Counselling for Exercise questionnaire. Multivariate and discriminant analyses were applied to determine whether reasons for physical activity differed between men and women and across the stages of change.ResultsDiscriminant analyses indicated that persons with schizophrenia at the early stages of change are less autonomous in the regulation of their physical activity behaviour than those at the later stages. Multivariate analyses showed a difference in amotivation, external regulation, and autonomous regulation, but not introjected regulation across the different stages of change.ConclusionsOur results suggest that autonomous motivation may have an important role to play in the adoption and maintenance of health promoting behaviours in persons with schizophrenia.     

Baseline predictors of physical activity in a sample of adults with arthritis participating in a self-directed exercise program

Objectives

To examine baseline predictors of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) at the 12-week follow-up in a sample of adults with arthritis participating in a self-directed, multicomponent exercise program.

Study design

Pretest–posttest. Analyses were limited to those randomized to the exercise intervention.

Methods

Participants (n = 152) completed a survey assessing demographic, health-related, and arthritis-related factors, and completed anthropometric and functional measurements at baseline. Self-reported MVPA was assessed at baseline and 12 weeks. Participants were classified as engaging in ≥2.5 or <2.5 h/week of MVPA at the 12-week follow-up. Baseline demographic, health-related, arthritis-related, and functional factors were examined as predictors of engaging in ≥2.5 h of MVPA.

Results

At the 12-week follow-up, 66.5% (n = 101) of participants engaged in ≥2.5 h/week of MVPA. Those with a higher body mass index, more days with poor physical health, a greater number of health conditions, self-reported hypertension, self-reported high cholesterol, and greater pain and stiffness were less likely to engage in ≥2.5 h of MVPA at the 12-week follow-up; those with greater arthritis self-efficacy and better performance on the 6 minute walk test were more likely. None of the other factors examined were associated with MVPA.

Conclusions

This study uncovered health-related, arthritis-related, and functional factors associated with MVPA that may help guide intervention strategies. Participants with less severe symptoms, better functional performance and fewer comorbidities at baseline were more likely to achieve the recommended MVPA level at 12 weeks; therefore self-directed PA interventions may be best suited for those with relatively good health status despite arthritis, while those with worse symptoms and health status may benefit more from other intervention delivery modalities such as structured, individualized programs where additional support for managing arthritis symptoms and comorbidity can be addressed.     

社区老年人身体活动与罹患肌少症的关联

目的  探讨日常身体活动水平和体育锻炼习惯对社区老年人肌少症的影响。 方法  于2019年5月―8月招募≥65岁的老年人,通过亚洲肌少症诊断标准调查社区老年人肌少症患病率。采用自制问卷收集老年人一般人口学资料和生活习惯资料。采用国际体力活动量表（international physical activity questionnaire,IPAQ-s）对老年人日常身体活动量进行评估。使用Logistic回归分析模型分析肌少症与日常身体活动量、锻炼习惯之间的关系。 结果  社区老年人肌少症患病率为12.3%。在调整了人口学特征和生活习惯等混杂因素后,无锻炼习惯老年人肌少症患病率是有锻炼习惯者的2.759倍（OR=2.759,95% CI：1.213~5.919,P=0.017）。坚持锻炼年数每增加1年,老年人罹患肌少症的风险减少0.070（OR=0.930,95% CI：0.878~0.985,P=0.013）。每次锻炼时间增加1 h,老年人罹患肌少症的风险减少0.611（OR=0.389,95% CI：0.187~0.809,P=0.012）。 结论  我国≥65岁老年人肌少症患病率较高。尽早开始每周2 d以上、每次25 min以上的体育锻炼可降低老年人肌少症的患病风险。     

Evidence-based physical activity promotion - HEPA Europe, the European Network for the Promotion of Health-Enhancing Physical Activity

There has been a world-wide increase in scientific interest in health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA). The importance of a physically active lifestyle has now been well established both on the individual and on the population level. At the same time, physical inactivity has become a global problem. While sports for all has a long history, only a few examples of long-term integrated physical activity promotion strategies have been in place in Europe until recently, namely in Finland, the Netherlands and England. A number of countries have now begun to develop their own activities. However, there has been a noticeable lack of a platform for sharing the development and implementation of evidence-based policies and strategies. In order to fill this gap, HEPA Europe, the European Network for the Promotion of Health-Enhancing Physical Activity, was founded in May 2005 in Gerlev, Denmark. The goal of the network is to strengthen and support efforts and actions that increase participation in physical activity and improve the conditions favourable to a healthy lifestyle, in particular with respect to HEPA. The Network is working closely with the WHO Regional Office for Europe (). The network focuses on population-based approaches for the promotion of HEPA, using the best-available scientific evidence, and is currently implementing its first projects. HEPA Europe has established collaboration with EU Commission projects and Agita Mundo. Priorities for future work have been defined, and interested organisations and institutions have the opportunity to join the network and participate in the process.Members of the Steering Committee of HEPA Europe.Representatives of the European Commission Working Party on Lifestyle (DM, MS), and the European Commission Network Project Task Force on Public Health Nutrition and Physical Activity (JMO, HR, JMZ, DM, PO, MS).     

Increasing recreational and leisure time physical activity in Poland–how to overcome barriers of inactivity

Title Increasing recreational and leisure time physical activity in Poland–how to overcome barriers of inactivity Aim International experts have alerted us about the burden of a sedentary lifestyle. In recent WHO reports, lack of physical activity was placed as one of the leading risk factors of chronic diseases affecting both developed and developing countries. Despite some beneficial changes in lifestyle during the last decade, the level of physical activity in Poland still differs from many other European countries and international recommendations as well. Methods The analysis was based on a review of the Medline database, the main Polish governmental documents and studies concerning physical activity levels and the most interesting recent programmes on the topic. Results In the article the physical activity level of the Polish population and the main factors influencing it are discussed. The results of the national WOBASZ Project (2003–2005) revealed that nearly 35% of Polish adults are not active during their leisure time, while only about 17% are only occasionally engaged in any exercise. Over 42% of children up to 14 years old spend above 3 h per day in front of a TV or computer monitor. Over 50% of Polish teenagers aged 15–19 years do not participate in any kind of recreational physical activity. The most successful or promising programmes promoting active lifestyles recently applied in Poland are described in the article. The Great Polish Nationwide Physical Activity Campaign “Revitalize Your Heart” as an innovative and effective complex method is discussed by the authors. Conclusions Promising results from several new innovative large-scale physical activity-promoting programmes developed and implemented in Poland in last 5 years let us hope that the battle against a sedentary lifestyle and its health consequences could result in further progressive improvement of the physical activity level of the whole society.     

The importance of Active Transportation to and from school for daily physical activity among children

Objective

To investigate if students who use of Active Transportation (AT) to and from school among urban and rural Canadian children are more likely to meet physical activity recommendations.

Methods

The Raising healthy Eating and Active Living in Alberta (REAL Kids Alberta) study is a population-based health survey among Grade 5 students. In 2009, physical activity levels were measured using time-stamped pedometers (number of steps/hour) among 688 children. Parents reported mode of transportation to and from school (AT/non-AT). Multilevel multiple linear regression analyses with corresponding β coefficients were conducted to quantify the relationship between mode of transportation to and from school with (1) overall step count, and (2) the likelihood of achieving at least 13,500 steps per day recommended for optimal growth and development.

Results

Among urban children, those who used AT to and from school accumulated more steps [β = 1124(95% CI = 170,2077)] and although not significant, were more likely to achieve the recommended 13,500 steps/day compared to those not using AT to and from school [OR = 1.61(95% CI = 0.93,2.81)].

Conclusion

Using AT to and from school appears to be beneficial to children by supplementing their physical activity, particularly those living in urban regions. Strategies to promote physical activity are needed, particular for children residing in rural regions and smaller towns.     

Investigating the effects of Physical Activity Counselling on depressive symptoms and physical activity in female undergraduate students with depression: A multiple baseline single-subject design

BackgroundDepression is one of the most common health problems faced by university students. Evidence supports that physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of depression, though activating this population remains challenging. One potential evidence-based strategy, to help people become more active, is Physical Activity Counselling (PAC). The current study examined the effects of a two-month PAC intervention on depressive symptoms and physical activity in female undergraduate students with depression.MethodsThe study followed a multiple baseline, single-subject design with five participants. There were four separate study phases: baseline, intervention, end point and follow-up. Physical activity was measured objectively using accelerometers and self-reported measures of depressive symptoms and physical activity were collected via online surveys.ResultsVisual analyses revealed that depressive symptoms decreased and self-reported physical activity increased from baseline throughout the duration of the study in all five participants. Statistical analyses supported these results. Cohen’s effect size estimates of grouped averages revealed that decreases in depressive symptoms and increases in self-reported physical activity from baseline throughout the duration of the study were large.ConclusionsThese results provide initial support for PAC as a potential method of increasing physical activity and reducing depressive symptoms in female undergraduate students with depression.