American adults knowledge of exercise recommendations

Authors

James R. Morrow Jr., University of North Texas
Jeanette A. Kyzewinski-Malone, University of North Texas
Allen W. Jackson, University of North Texas
Timothy J. Bungum, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Shannon J. FitzGerald, University of North Texas

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2004

Publication Title

Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport

Volume

75

Issue

3

First page number:

231

Last page number:

237

Abstract

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and some cancers. Approximately 950,000 Americans die annually from cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine whether American adults know which traditional and lifestyle physical activities affect health and how they should be physically active to achieve a health benefit. Secondary purposes were to determine whether this knowledge is a function of gender, ethnicity, education, or age and if those who are sufficiently active for a health benefit possess different knowledge levels than those not sufficiently active for a health benefit. Items based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/American College of Sports Medicine principles included knowledge of exercise guidelines and traditional and lifestyle physical activities. This information was obtained from 20 questions that were part of a national random telephone survey of 2,002 American households in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. Respondents were most aware of traditional physical activities (M = 94%) that provide a health benefit and less aware of specific exercise guidelines (M = 68%) and lifestyle physical activities (M = 71%) that can result in a health benefit. Knowledge was not related to physical activity behavior sufficient for a health benefit and only slightly related to ethnicity, education, and age. These data suggest that physical activity knowledge alone is not sufficient to elicit a behavior; however, it provides educators with an understanding of the public's physical activity knowledge that could be helpful in developing health promotion and physical activity interventions.

Keywords

Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Age distribution (Demography); Cardiovascular system—Diseases; Cardiovascular system--Diseases—Prevention; Diabetes; Diabetes—Prevention; Educational Status; Ethnic groups; Ethnic Groups/statistics & numerical data; Exercise; Female; Guidelines as Topic; Health; Health attitudes; Health Knowledge; Attitudes; Practice; Health promotion; Health surveys; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension—Prevention; Intervention; Life Style; Lifestyles; Male; Men; Middle Aged; Motor Activity; Obesity; Obesity—Prevention; Older people; Osteoporosis; Osteoporosis--Exercise therapy; Osteoporosis—Prevention; Physical Activity; Sedentary behavior; Sedentary people; Sex Distribution; Sex distribution (Demography); Teenagers; United States; Weight loss; Women

Disciplines

Community-Based Research | Demography, Population, and Ecology | Exercise Science | Gender and Sexuality | Public Health | Race and Ethnicity

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

Repository Citation

Morrow, J. R., Kyzewinski-Malone, J. A., Jackson, A. W., Bungum, T. J., FitzGerald, S. J. (2004). American adults knowledge of exercise recommendations. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 75(3), 231-237.