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An investigation of exercise behaviors and barriers to exercise among community-dwelling adults of diverse cultural groups

The purpose of this study was to investigate exercise habits in different cultural groups in order to provide guidelines for health promotion interventions. A 21-item survey with demographic information and standardized scale questions was completed by 140 individ ls. The two largest subgroups were Hispanics (n=101) and non-Hispanic whites (n=23). Statistical analysis indicated that (I) non-Hispanic whites reported significantly higher outs of exercise; (2) there were no significant differences in exercise frequency or barriers to exercise between the groups; (3) income and health status influenced exercise habits; and (4) lower health status scores were related to higher frequencies of barriers to exercise describing health limitations.
Factors such as ethnicity , income, or health status influence exercise habits, and health promotion interventions should be tailored to these characteristics. Health behaviors, however, are ultimately unique to each individual. A careful analysis of personal needs that avoids stereotypes must be performed to obtain optimal outcomes.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fiu.edu/oai:digitalcommons.fiu.edu:etd-4520
Date26 July 2002
CreatorsFernandez-Fernandez, Alicia
PublisherFIU Digital Commons
Source SetsFlorida International University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceFIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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