239676 Adults want to feel better and youth want to get fit? An elicitation study of walking

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Chia-ling Hung, MPE , Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Juddy Wachira, MPH , Department of Applied Health Science, Indiaua Univeristy Bloomington, Bloomington, IN
Susan E. Middlestadt, PhD , Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Laurel Dolin Stevenson, PhD, MPH , Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Janet P. Wallace, PhD , Kinesiology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Background. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior, attitude toward action is one of the factors underlying behavioral decisions; an understanding of the beliefs that form this attitude is fundamental to modifying the behavior. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to compare top-of-the-mind advantages of walking perceived by adults and youth.

Method. Open-ended interviews elicited salient beliefs about walking: adults were asked about walking at least 30 minutes on most days of the week; youth were asked about walking for 30 minutes outside of school at least 3 days a week. Participants were 96 adults from four Indiana worksites (78% women; 77% White) and 108 youth from three middle schools (54% girls; 94% White). Fisher's exact tests compared adults to youth on percentage mentioning each advantage.

Results. For adults, the most frequently mentioned advantages were: improve mental and emotional state (66%), lose weight (63%), improve health (57%), improve physical fitness (24%) and like it (21%). For youth, they were: improve physical fitness (53%), improve health (47%), lose weight (36%), like it (17%) and get me to exercise (17%). Improving mental and emotional state was mentioned by significantly more adults than youth (p<.01); improving physical fitness was mentioned by significantly more youth than adults (p<.01).

Implications. The results suggest that campaigns may need to differ by age. For adults, one might focus on emotional benefits (e.g., feeling better, reducing stress and improving mood). For youth, one might emphasize improved physical fitness (e.g., get fit, stronger muscles, and get in shape).

Learning Areas:
Program planning
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. List the most frequently mentioned advantages for walking behavior. 2. Compare adults and youth on salient positive consequences. 3. Describe implications for interventions to improve walking behaviors

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be an abstract Author on the content I am responsible for because I participated the study and conducted the analysis.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Promotion of Physical Activity among Adults
See more of: Physical Activity