Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:59:35.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Regional, demographic and national influences on attitudes and beliefs with regard to physical activity, body weight and health in a nationally representative sample in the European Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Anthony Kafatos ,
Yannis Manios ,
Irini Markatji ,
Ismene Giachetti ,
Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida  and
Lars Magnus Engstrom
Anthony Kafatos
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 1393, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Yannis Manios
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 1393, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Irini Markatji
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 1393, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Ismene Giachetti
Affiliation:
CPC France, 379 Avenue du General de Gaulle, 92140 Clamart, France
Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida
Affiliation:
Curso de Cienceias da Nutricao, Rua do Dr Roberto Frias, 4000 Porto, Portugal
Lars Magnus Engstrom
Affiliation:
Stockholm Institute of Education, Department of Educational Research, PO Box 34103, S-100 26 Stockholm, Sweden
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Introduction

Although the benefits of physical activity regarding body-weight gain and health in general are now widely accepted, physical activity levels remain low among citizens in the western world. This could be attributed to certain attitudes and beliefs about physical activity. Identifying and understanding these parameters would be the first step in an attempt to increase the levels of physical activity in populations generally characterized as having a sedentary lifestyle.

Objective

The aim of the present study was to identify the attitudes and beliefs regarding physical activity, body weight and health in a nationally representative sample in the EU and in particular to explore the demographic and national (cultural) influences on attitudes towards physical activity.

Design

In each member state of the EU, approximately 1000 adults aged 15 years and over, were selected to complete an interviewer-assisted face-to-face questionnaire. Overall, a sample of 15 239 individuals in the EU participated in the study. Subject selection was quota-controlled to ensure samples in each country were nationally representative.

Results

On a European level wide variations were observed regarding the levels, beliefs and attitudes towards physical activity. More positive beliefs were observed among Finns, while less positive beliefs were observed among southern Europeans. A similar pattern was observed for attitudes, with the Portuguese having the highest percentage feeling that they do not need to be more physically active than they already are. However, most southern Europeans felt that a campaign would encourage them to become more active than they already are. On a demographic level, the youngest, more educated and most physically active subjects had more positive attitudes and beliefs towards physical activity and the health benefits derived from it; while for the overweight, beliefs and attitudes toward physical activity were related primarily to the benefits related to weight control.

Conclusions

Lower levels of physical activity, an unwillingness to become active among non-participants and confusion regarding the weight gain benefits and general health benefits of exercise were reported more frequently among southern Europeans and older and less educated subjects. The Finns scored highest in all these parameters, possibly due to the programmes implemented and the beliefs and behaviour changes observed in this country during the last few years. The actions taken in Finland and their benefits could be employed appropriately in the other European states.

Keywords

Physical activityWeightHealthAttitudesBeliefsEurope
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 2 , Supplement 1a , January 1999 , pp. 87 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 1999

References

1Ramazzini, B. Diseases of Workers. (Written in Latin by B Ramazzini, Professor of Physics at Padua, 1700. English edition translated by WC Wright, London, 1705.) New York: Hafner, 1964.Google Scholar
2Morris, JN, Heady, JA, Raffle, PAB, Roberts, CG, Parks, JW. Coronary heart disease and physical activity of work. Lancet 1953; 2: 1053–7, 1111–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Morris, JN, Kagan, A, Parrison, DC, Gardner, M, Raffle, PAB. Incidence and prediction of ischaemic heart-disease in London busmen. Lancet 1966; 2: 552–9.Google ScholarPubMed
4Kahn, HA. The relationship of reported coronary heart disease mortality to physical activity of work. Am. J. Public Health 1963; 53: 1058–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Zukel, WJ, Lewis, RH, Enterline, PE, et al. A short-term community study of the epidemiology of coronary heart disease: a preliminary report on the North Dakota study. Am. J. Public Health 1959; 49: 1630–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Cassel, J, Heyden, S, Bartel, A, et al. Occupation and physical activity and coronary heart disease. Arch. Intern. Med. 1971; 128: 920–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Taylor, HI, Klepetar, E, Keys, A, Parlin, MS, Blackburn, H, Puchner, T. Death rates among physically active and sedentary employees of the railroad industry. Am. J. Public Health 1962; 52: 1697–707.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Menotti, A, Puddu, V. Death rates among the Italian railroad employees, with special to coronary heart disease and physical activity at work. Environ. Res. 1976; 11: 331–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9Paffenbarger, RS Jr, Laughlin, ME, Gima, AS, Black, RA. Work activity of longshoremen as related to death from coronary heart disease and stroke. N. Engl. J. Med. 1970; 282: 1109–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Paffenbarger, RS Jr, Gima, AS, Laughlin, E, Black, RA. Characteristics of longshoremen related fatal coronary heart disease and stroke. Am. J. Public Health 1971; 61: 1362–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Blair, SN. Physical activity, fitness, and coronary heart disease. In: Bouchard, C, Shephard, RJ, Stephens, T, eds. Physical Activity, Fitness, and Health: International Proceedings and Consensus Statement. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1994; 579–90.Google Scholar
12Pate, RR, Pratt, M, Blair, SN, et al. Physical activity and public health: a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. JAMA 1995; 273: 402–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Blair, SN. C.H. McCloy Research Lecture. Physical activity, physical fitness, and health. Res. Q. Exerc. Sport 1993; 64: 365–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Paffenbarger, RS Jr, Hyde, RT, Wing, AL, Lee, IM, Jung, DL, Kampert, JB. The association of changes in physical-activity level and other lifestyle characteristics with mortality among men. N. Engl. J. Med. 1993; 328: 538–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Hahn, RA, Teutsch, SM, Rothenberg, RB, Marks, JR. Excess deaths from nine chronic diseases in the United States, 1986. JAMA 1990; 264: 2654–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Powell, KE, Blair, SN. The public health burdens of sedentary living habits: theoretical but realistic estimates. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 1994; 26: 851–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17Kearney, JM, Kearney, MJ, McElhone, S, Gibney, MJ. Methods used to conduct the pan-European Union survey on consumer attitudes to physical activity, body weight and health. Public Health Nutr. 1999; 2: 79–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18Lahelma, E, Rahkonen, O, Berg, MA, et al. Changes in health status and health behavior among Finnish adults 1978–1993. Scand. J. Work Environ. Health 1997; 23: 85–90.Google ScholarPubMed
19Steptoe, A, Wardle, J, Fuller, R, et al. Leisure-time physical exercise: prevalence, attitudinal correlates, and behavioral correlates among young Europeans from 21 countries. Prev. Med. 1997; 26: 845–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Kafatos, A, Mamalakis, G. Policies and programs in nutrition and physical fitness in Greece. World Rev. Nutr. Diet 1993; 72: 206–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Steptoe, A, Wardle, J. The European Health and Behaviour Survey: the development of an international study in health psychology. Psychol. Health 1996; 11: 49–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22Sallis, JF, Simons-Morton, BG, Stone, EJ, et al. Determinants of physical activity and interventions in youth. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 1992; 24: S248–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Wardle, J, Steptoe, A. The European Health and Behaviour Survey: rationale, methods and initial results from the United Kingdom. Soc. Sci. Med. 1991; 33: 925–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Haglund, BJ. Geographical and socioeconomic distribution of physical activity at work and leisure time and its relation to morbidity in a Swedish rural county. Scand. J. Soc. Med. 1984; 12: 155–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25Jones, DA, Ainsworth, BE, Croft, JB, Macera, CA, Lloyd, EE, Yusuf, HR. Moderate leisure-time physical activity: who is meeting the public health recommendations? A national cross-sectional study. Arch. Fam. Med. 1998; 7: 285–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Stephens, T, Jacobs, DR Jr, White, CC. A descriptive epidemiology of leisure time physical activity. Public Health Rep. 1985; 100: 147–58.Google ScholarPubMed
27Bauman, A, Owen, N, Rushworth, RL. Recent trends and socio-demographic determinants of exercise participation in Australia. Community Health Stud. 1990; 14: 19–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28Owen, N, Bauman, A. The descriptive epidemiology of a sedentary lifestyle in adult Australians. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1992; 21: 305–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29Barnekow-Bergkvist, M, Hedberg, G, Janlert, U, Jansson, E. Physical activity pattern in men and women at the ages of 16 and 34 and development of physical activity from adolescence to adulthood. Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports 1996; 6: 359–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Vaz de Almeida, MD, Graça, P, Afonso, C, D'Amicis, A, Lappalainen, R, Damkjaer, S. Physical activity levels and body weight in a nationally representative sample in the European Union. Public Health Nutr. 1999; 2: 105–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31King, AJC, Coles, B. The Health of Canada's Youth. Canadian Ministry of Supply and Services, H39–239/1992E, 1992.Google Scholar
32Long, BJ, Calfas, KJ, Wooten, WJ, et al. A multisite field test of the acceptability of physical activity counselling in primary care—Project PACE. Am. J. Prev. Med. 1996; 12: 73–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33Booth, ML, Bauman, A, Owen, N, Gore, CJ. Physical activity preferences, preferred sources of assistance, and perceived barriers to increased activity among physically inactive Australians. Prev. Med. 1997; 26: 131–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34Ferrini, R, Edelstein, S, Barrett-Connor, E. The association between health beliefs and health behavior change in older adults. Prev. Med. 1994; 23: 1–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35Eiser, JR, Gable, P. Health behavior as goal directed action. J. Behav. Med. 1988; 11: 523–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36Silberstein, LR, Striegel-Moore, RH, Timko, C, Rodin, J. Behavioral and psychological implications of body dis-satisfaction: do men and women differ? Sex Roles 1988; 19: 219–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
37Siegel, PZ, Brackbill, RM, Heath, GW. The epidemiology of walking for exercise: implications for promoting activity among sedentary groups. Am. J. Public Health 1995; 85: 706–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed