标题：Sociodemographic and Geographic Correlates of Meeting Current Recommendations for Physical Activity in Middle-Aged French Adults: the Supplémentation en Vitamines et Minéraux Antioxydants (SUVIMAX) Study
摘要：Objective. We evaluated the characteristics of French subjects meeting current public health recommendations for physical activity. Methods. We assessed leisure-time physical activity cross-sectionally in 7404 adults aged 45 to 68 years with applied logistic regression models. Results. Meeting the recommended physical activity levels was more likely in subjects aged 60 years and older and in women with higher education levels or living in rural areas and was less likely in smokers. No association was found with time spent watching television. The contribution of vigorous activity to total time spent being active was approximately 2 times higher in subjects meeting recommendations. Conclusions. Participation in some vigorous activity may be viewed as a “facilitator” to attain physical activity recommendations. Relationships with physical environment variables in Europe need further investigation. A low level of physical activity is recognized as a major risk factor for the development of several chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, hypertension, obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain forms of cancer, as well as some mental health problems. 1, 2 Given the numerous benefits for health and well-being of regular physical activity, specific recommendations for the general population have been issued by US 1– 3 and European 4, 5 public health authorities and scientific expert panels. The 1990 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines, which focused on cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, recommended vigorous exercise for at least 20 minutes performed 3 or more days per week. 3 Recognition that moderate amounts of physical activity also confer substantial health benefits, especially for inactive or irregularly active subjects, led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the ACSM, 2 as well as the US Surgeon General, 1 to publish new recommendations focused on health-related physical activity. According to the 1995 CDC/ACSM guidelines, all adults should accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity on most, and preferably all, days of the week. 2 At present, a limited number of studies from the United States, 6– 8 Australia, 9 and England 10 have assessed the proportion of adults meeting these new guidelines, with observed rates varying from 25% to 50%. To our knowledge, no such studies have been conducted in populations from other European countries. Identifying the correlates (personal, social, and environmental) of participation in physical activity is a first step that may help to target at-risk populations and guide the development of preventive programs. Among the many factors related to overall physical activity levels, associations with sociodemographic variables—such as age, gender, education, and income levels—are well documented. 1, 11, 12 The most recent studies have focused on environmental factors, taking a broader “ecological” approach to understand the correlates of physical activity. 12 The influence of the physical environment, which provides cues and opportunities for physical activity, is in particular a subject of growing interest. 12, 13 Urban/rural status is 1 of the physical environment variables that can be easily obtained. Some studies have shown that rural US adults are less likely to meet the recommended levels of physical activity than their urban counterparts. 14, 15 However, other studies from the United States 16, 17 and England 10 do not support these findings. Compared with the United States and other European countries, there are very few data regarding the habitual level of physical activity/inactivity in France. 5 Therefore, the aims of the present study were to investigate individual and environmental factors, including the degree of urbanization of the place of residence, in relation to leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in a national sample of middle-aged French adults and to compare physical activity patterns between the subjects who did and the subjects who did not meet the current public health recommendations (PHR).
