Longer leisure walking time is associated with positive self-rated health among adults and older adults: a Brazilian nationwide study

Abstract

Background To verify the association between weekly leisure walking time and positive self-rated health in the Brazilian adult and elderly population. Methods This cross-sectional study used information collected in 2019 across all regions of Brazil. This study included 25,785 people aged ≥ 18 years (mean = 51.6; standard deviation = 18.0) from all capitals of the Brazilian states who reported practicing walking as physical activity during leisure time. Self-rated health was the dependent variable (positive or negative). The leisure walking time/week was the main exposure and it was categorized in “150 minutes/week”, “150–299 minutes/week” and “≥ 300 minutes/week”. We used binary logistic regression to estimate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) that was adjusted for relevant covariates. Results We found that individuals who reported leisure walking for a period from 150 to 299 minutes/week and those who reported walking for a period ≥ 300 minutes/week were respectively 28% (OR = 1.28. 95% CI [1.10–1.48]) and 52% (OR = 1.52. 95% CI [1.27–1.82]) more likely of perceiving their health positively compared to those who reported walking for a period < 150 minutes/week. Individuals who reported leisure walking time <150 minutes/week had 72.3% (95% CI [70.4–74.1]) probability of perceiving their health positively. Individuals who reported leisure walking time from 150 to 299 minutes/week had 76.6% (95% CI [75.0 –78.3) probability of perceiving their health positively. On the other hand, individuals who reported leisure walking time ≥ 300 minutes/week had 79.2% probability (95% CI [77.1–81.4]) of perceiving their health positively. Conclusion Longer leisure walking time was associated with positive self-rated health among adults and older adults in Brazil.

Physical Activity and Sleep in Adults and Older Adults in Southern Brazil

“…The present study found that individuals who practiced leisure walking (at least 10 min) were more likely to present the recommended sleep hours when compared to those who did not. Walking is considered a type of moderate-intensity physical activity and is directly associated in previous studies with better indicators of physical and mental health in adults and older adults [32]. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted in populations with and without diagnosis of diseases reported that moderate-intensity exercise is associated with adequate sleep duration [26,27].…”

“…Thus, as genetics has little influence on sleep quality, it is believed that environmental aspects such as lifestyle, for example, may explain these differences. As PA is an aspect of lifestyle and males practice more PA than females [32][33][34], it is suggested that PA may be a possible explanation for this difference between the sexes.…”

Correlates of screen-based behaviors among adults from the 2019 Brazilian National Health Survey

“…We also investigated other lifestyle behaviors as correlates, including self-reported leisure-time physical activity (< 150 min/week versus ≥150 min/week, according to the current guidelines from the World Health Organization [ 6 ]), consumption of sugary foods and soft drinks (both classified as < 5 days/week versus ≥5 days/week, based on the frequent consumption [ 25 ]). Finally, health status factors, comprising elevated depressive symptoms (defined as a score > 9 in the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [ 26 ]), obesity (defined as a body mass index ≥30 kg/m 2 [ 27 ]), and self-rated health (good/bad [ 28 ]) were also investigated as screen time correlates.…”

Leisure Activities and Chinese Older Adults’ Cognitive Function

“…According to the above definition, it is hard to determine whether physical activities in leisure time should be considered as physical activities or leisure activities. To further clarify the term of leisure activity, some scholars have defined it as 'leisure-time non-exercise activities', including gardening work, raising domestic animals, reading books or newspaper, playing cards et al [10] [12] [16]. Prior studies have documented the importance of participating in leisure activities in promoting older adults' health.…”