The purpose of this study was to examine the association between environmental correlates and physical activity (PA) levels in young adults. The sample consisted of 369 females and 315 males, aged 24-30 years (84% white; 14% black). Physical activity (hrs/wk) averaged over the past year and number of days of vigorous PA was assessed by questionnaire. Proximity to recreational facilities, home exercise equipment, neighborhood characteristics, and barriers to physical activity were also assessed by questionnaire. Gender-specific analyses were conducted to compare mean scores for each environmental correlate across quartiles of total physical activity and across level of vigorous physical activity. Gender-specific analyses were conducted to examine the odds of a barrier being reported across quartiles of total physical activity and across level of vigorous physical activity. After adjusting for all potential covariates, in females, home exercise equipment was significantly related to vigorous physical activity (OR=1.26, 95% CI=1.10-1.42), and in both genders, proximity to recreational facilities (p=0.005 in males; p=0.012 in females) and home exercise equipment (p<0.001 in males; p<0.001 in females) were significantly associated with total physical activity. In males, a lack of good weather (OR=2.88, 95%CI=1.12-7.42) and a lack of facilities (OR=4.43, 95%CI=1.47-13.37) were significantly associated with an insufficient amount of vigorous physical activity, and a lack of equipment and facilities were negatively related to total physical activity. In conclusion, environmental correlates and barriers significantly influence leisure-time physical activity in young adults.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-08082005-141552 |
| Date | 19 August 2005 |
| Creators | Jekal, Yoon-Suk |
| Contributors | Vincent C Arena, Deborah J. Aaron, Robert J. Robertson, Jere D. Gallagher |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-08082005-141552/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.0018 seconds