Factors Affecting Levels of Physical Activity in Adults

Abstract

A large proportion of adults in Western cultures are physically inactive, despite several decades of warnings about the potentially negative health consequences of a sedentary lifestyle. Efforts to promote physical activity have focused on identifying its determinants and designing interventions that might effectively promote regular physical activity. The multitude of factors that induce adults to initiate and maintain programmes of physical activity have been divided into those that are invariable (age, gender, race, ethnicity) and those that are presumed to be modifiable (behavioural and personality characteristics, environmental circumstances and community settings). The lack of consistency in the design, analysis and reporting of interventions in the lives of inactive or sedentary individuals has produced equivocal results. However, several social and environmental factors have systematically emerged as determinants of physical activity in adults. In ethnic minorities, the removal of barriers such as unaffordable facilities and unavailable childcare, high crime rates, fear for personal safety and culturally inappropriate activities are of primary importance. Social support from family, peers, communities and healthcare providers has resulted in modest improvements across cultures, ages and genders in selected settings, but the definition of specific interventions and their outcomes deserve additional attention. Longitudinal studies indicate that components of physical fitness are relatively transitory, with low to modest correlations between physical activity and measures of physical fitness in childhood and adolescence and in adulthood. Attempts to explain the activity behaviour of adults by applying various theories in programmes of intervention have also produced mixed results. Successful interventions tailor programmes to individual needs, account for personal levels of fitness, allow for personal control of the activity and its outcomes, and provide for social support by family, peers and communities. The initiation and maintenance of regular physical activity in adults depends on a multitude of biological and sociocultural variables that demand attention across the lifespan.

Individual Versus Team-Based Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

“…First, physical activity interventions have often been challenged by the need to accurately measure and record data from daily behaviors. [49][50][51][52] Prior studies have relied mostly on either self-reported activity. 52 In this study, physical activity was measured using smartphones, which are already in possession by two-thirds of US adults, 29,30 but have not previously been well evaluated.…”

Obesity and Immigration Among Latina Women

“…The effects of culture and the acculturation process have been suggested as partial explanations for differences in health outcomes among racial/ethnic groups (as a large number of immigrants are non-White) and differences in health outcomes between immigrants and non-immigrants regardless of racial/ethnic grouping [2]. In the case of obesity, it is hypothesized that aspects of migration (i.e., changes in diet, exercise, stress, cultural norms) may adversely affect body composition.…”

Exercise, service and support: client experiences of physical activity referral schemes (PARS)

“…However, PARS have not been a universal failure with some schemes reporting sustained improvement in clients' physical activity levels and subsequent positive health indicators (NHS, 2001). Success across a number of specific schemes has also been reported (Seefeldt, Malina and Clark, 2002), although scepticism remains over changes in long term lifestyle habits (Riddoch et al 1998;Morgan 2005 (Leijon et al, 2010). Some schemes consider retention as low as 20% to be successful (Cock, Adams, Ibbestson and Baugh, 2008).…”

“…Support from staff should be consistent and continuous; clients may need to hear a message repeatedly in order to affect behaviour (Isaacs et al, 2007). Clients who are regularly contacted by staff are more likely to maintain their participation (Hillsdon et al 2005;Seefeldt et al 2002).…”

“…In addition, considerable value in the lowering and eliminating of barriers to physical activity adherence is also attributed to social support Seefeldt et al 2002;Stathi et al 2004;Wiliams et al, 2007). In this sense, encouragement and affirmation from family members, peers and friends is considered vital to overcoming barriers to physical activity adherence (Coon and Coleman, 2004;Stathi et al, 2004), so too is support from GPs (Schutzer and Graves, 2004), staff members (Seefeldt et al, 2002), and fellow exercisers .…”