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Physical activity in three regional communities in Queensland

journal contribution
posted on 2013-01-01, 00:00 authored by W Brown, N Burton, Shannon SahlqvistShannon Sahlqvist, K Heesch, K McCarthy, N Ng, J van Uffelen
Objective
To describe physical activity participation in three Queensland regional communities.

Design
Cross-sectional mail survey of randomly selected residents, stratified by age and sex.

Setting

Esk, Mareeba and Mount Isa.

Participants
1219 (58% women) adults, with a mean age 46.7 (standard deviation 14.7) years.

Main outcome measures
Proportion of people inactive, meeting Australian activity guidelines (a minimum of 150 min week−1 and five sessions week−1) and walking a dog daily; time spent walking and cycling for transport; location and type of recreational physical activities.

Results
Overall, 18% of respondents were inactive, with the highest proportions among women (22.3%) and older adults in Mount Isa (24.3%). The proportion meeting activity guidelines was 47%, with the lowest proportion among women in Mount Isa (40.4%). Although 63% reported owning a dog, only 22% reported walking a dog daily. Few people reported walking or cycling for transport. The most common types of activities were walking, home-based exercise, running/jogging and swimming, and the most common location was at or near home.

Conclusions
Physical activity levels were lower in these regional communities than the state average. The findings indicate a need for physical activity policy and intervention strategies targeting regional and rural areas. This could focus on women and older adults, dog walking and physical activity opportunities in or near the home.

History

Journal

Australian journal of rural health

Volume

21

Issue

2

Pagination

112 - 120

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia

Location

Richmond, Vic.

ISSN

1440-1584

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2013, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing

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