Physical Activity Levels by Occupational Category in Non-Metropolitan Australian Adults

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between occupational category and 3 health-related behaviors: participation in leisure-time physical activity, active transport (AT) and occupational sitting in a sample of employed Australian adults. Methods: A random, cross-sectional sample of 592 adults aged 18 to 71 years completed a telephone survey in October/November 2006. Reported occupations were categorized as professional (n = 332, 56.1%), white-collar (n = 181, 30.6%), and blue-collar (n = 79, 13.3%). Relationships between occupational category and AT, sufficient phy... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Duncan, MJ
Badland, HM
Mummery, WK
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
Verlag/Hrsg.: HUMAN KINETICS PUBL INC
Schlagwörter: occupational category / active transport / barriers / sitting time / LEISURE-TIME / ENERGY-EXPENDITURE / DUTCH WORKERS / RISK / OBESITY / TRANSPORT / ASSOCIATIONS / WALKING / TRAVEL / WOMEN
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29020283
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/138413/1/138413.pdf

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between occupational category and 3 health-related behaviors: participation in leisure-time physical activity, active transport (AT) and occupational sitting in a sample of employed Australian adults. Methods: A random, cross-sectional sample of 592 adults aged 18 to 71 years completed a telephone survey in October/November 2006. Reported occupations were categorized as professional (n = 332, 56.1%), white-collar (n = 181, 30.6%), and blue-collar (n = 79, 13.3%). Relationships between occupational category and AT, sufficient physical activity and occupational sitting were examined using logistic regression. Results: White-collar employees (OR = 0.36, 95% CI 0.14-0.95) were less likely to engage in AT and more likely to engage in occupational sitting (OR = 3.10, 95% Cl 1.63-5.92) when compared with blue-collar workers. Professionals (OR = 3.04, 95% CI 1.94-4.76) were also more likely to engage in occupational sitting compared with blue-collar workers. No relationship was observed between occupational category and engagement in sufficient physical activity. Conclusions: No association between occupational category and sufficient physical activity levels was observed, although white-collar and professionals were likely to engage in high levels of occupational sitting. Innovative and sustainable strategies are required to reduce occupational sitting to improve health.