Acting on the National Physical Activity Guidelines

Acting on the National Physical Activity Guidelines

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to identify if presenting a sedentary individual with the Australian governments National Physical Activity Guidelines (NPAG) would improve their overall physical activity. There was a structured interview which was conducted at 2 week intervals. The interview assessed the subject current physical activity levels and their willingness to be able to incorporate physical activity into there daily lives while following the guidelines suggested. The NPAG guidelines were presented before each interview and explained to the subject. Additional surveys were conducted to evaluate the subject's anxiety levels and self-efficacy. Throughout the study we could benefit by seeing if presenting a sedentary individual with the NPAG would help improve levels of fitness and see if the governments' intervention would help the Australian population.

Methods

This study was conducted on a sedentary 48 year old Canadian woman. The details of the study were presented and an informed consent was gained from the participant. The interviews were conducted over the phone, since the subject is currently living in Canada. The first structured interview (see appendix 1) was conducted and then the physical activity guidelines were presented. Being unable to physically present the pamphlet to the subject the researcher had her access them via the internet (Australian Gouvernment, 1999). As the subject reviewed the guidelines the researcher explained them and ask the subject to choose 1 or more of the guidelines that she felt she could incorporate into her daily life. At this stage a general self-efficacy scale was administered. The survey consists of 10 simple questions aimed at finding if the subject had a high or low self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is described as being ones belief in their ability to organize and execute the sources of action required to manage prospective situations (Albert Bandura, 1986). A third and final survey was administered and measured the subject's proactive attitude levels, meaning the subjects beliefs about their ability to carry out a course of action through personal motivation. This questionnaire consisted of 8 short questions where the subject had to answer by; 1) not true at all, 2) barely true, 3) moderately true or 4) exactly true. http://www.fuberlin.de/gesund/skalen/Language_Selection/Turkish/Proactive_Attitude/proactive_attitude.htm

After conducting all the surveys the subject was instructed to print off the NPAG and put in on the fridge as a reminder of what the guidelines were and what she was supposed to be following for the next 2 weeks.

After the 14 day period, the second structured interview was administered (see appendix). The subject was asked to be as honest as possible and not try and respond to this survey by memory. The self-efficacy and proactive attitude surveys were also re-administered.

After collaboration of the results, it became increasingly evident that the subject did not adhere to the guidelines and had no hope in changing her behavior. Based on these findings a third questionnaire was conducted. This Social Physique Anxiety Questionnaire was administered, again over the phone. The survey was conducted to see if self-esteem, body image and social pressures were a factor for her none compliance.

Results

The physical activity guidelines chosen by the subject were:

1) Think of movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience

2) Be active every day in as many ways as you can

3) Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days.

The following tables present the data obtained from the 2 structured interviews.

Table 1: Total Time Spent in Inactive Recreation

Total hours Mon-Fri

Survey 1 Total hours

Mon-Fri

Survey 2 Total hours

Sat & Sun

Survey 1 Total hours

Sat & Sun

Survey 2

Hobbies

6 5 0 0

Reading

5 5 2 2

Sitting and socializing 3 2 6 4

Sitting/lying and listening to music/radio 0 0 0 0

Talking on telephone 5 4 1 2

Watching TV/ videos 8 12 4 4

Using the computer 8 7 2 2

Going for a drive 0 0 0 0

Relaxing, thinking, resting (not including sleep) 4 4 0 0

From this data it can be seen that the subject did not decrease time spent in inactive recreation, suggesting that she did not adhere to the physical activity guidelines that she had selected. Time spent in inactive recreation actually increased by three hours from Monday to Friday and decreased by just one hour on the weekends over the two-week test period. The most common form of inactive recreation was watching TV or videos (16 hours over the two week test period), followed by using the computer (9 hours over the two week test period).

Table 2: Time Spent being Physically Active

Sessions per week

Survey 1 Time

Survey 1 Sessions per week

Survey 2 Time

Survey 2

Walked continuously (at least 10 mins) 7 1 hour 7 1 hour

Climb flight of stairs 7 2 flights of stairs 2 2 flights of stairs

Vigorous household chores 0 0 0 0

Vigorous household gardening of heavy work 0 0 0 0

Vigorous physical activity 2 1 hour 1 1

Moderate physical activity 0 0 1 30 mins

In comparing this data it is evident that