Socio-demographic correlates of leisure time physical activity among Portuguese adults

A Data-Driven Approach to Predicting Recreational Activity Participation Using Machine Learning

Purpose: With the popularity of recreational activities, the study aimed to develop prediction models for recreational activity participation and explore the key factors affecting participation in recreational activities. Methods: A total of 12,712 participants, excluding individuals under 20, were selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2011 to 2018. The mean age of the sample was 46.86 years (±16.97), with a gender distribution of 6,721 males and 5,991 females. The variables included demographic, physical-related variables, and lifestyle variables. This study developed 42 prediction models using six machine learning methods, including logistic regression, Support Vector Machine (SVM), decision tree, random forest, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM). The relative importance of each variable was evaluated by permutation feature importance. Results: The results illustrated that the LightGBM was the most effective algorithm for predicting recreational activity participation (accuracy: .838, precision: .783, recall: .967, F1-score: .865, AUC: .826). In particular, prediction performance increased when the demographic and lifestyle datasets were used together. Next, as the result of the permutation feature importance based on the top models, education level and moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were found to be essential variables. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated the potential of a data-driven approach utilizing machine learning in a recreational discipline. Furthermore, this study interpreted the prediction model through feature importance analysis to overcome the limitation of machine learning interpretability.

Using a Socio-Environmental Approach to Explore the Determinants for Meeting the Recommended Physical Activity among Adults at Risk of Diabetes in Rural Indonesia

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (PA) is recommended to mitigate the risk of diabetes. This study explored the PA of adults at risk for diabetes in rural Indonesia and determined the requirements for meeting the recommended PA level. In total, 842 adults were screened using a diabetes risk test in a rural health centre; among them, 342 were at risk of diabetes. The level of PA was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, whereas the associated factors underlying the three domains -individual, support, and environment-were determined by the Influences on Physical Activity Instrument. The data analysis included a three-step multiple linear regression (MLR) and logistic regression (LR). Overall, 40.6% of the participants met the recommended PA. According to the MLR analysis, among males, individuals who gave PA a higher priority and had enough time to perform PA were predicted to have a higher activity energy expenditure (MET-minutes per week). According to the LR analysis, men were more likely to meet the recommended PA, and people who gave PA a lower priority and had less access to space for PA were less likely to meet the recommended PA level. Strategies for promoting PA in rural Indonesia include focusing on women, people who prioritize PA less, and those who have less time and space in which to be physically active.

Factors Associated with Physical Activity among People with Hypertension in a Rural Area in Bangladesh: Baseline Data from a Cluster Randomized Control Trial

The health benefits of physical activity (PA) are well recognized, and PA levels vary in different populations. The study aimed to investigate PA levels and associated sociodemographic factors among people with hypertension in a rural area in Bangladesh. Baseline data were part of a cluster randomized controlled trial of 307 adults aged 30-75 years to study the effectiveness of PA and lifestyle changes in lowering blood pressure. The outcome variables were PA at work, commuter, recreation, metabolic equivalent task (MET)-minute per week and sitting time. Total 68 (22.1%) people participated in vigorous-intensity activity, 23 (7.5%) participated in moderate-intensity sports. Overall, 83% of people were physically active more than 600 MET-min. Women (OR 2.95, 95% CI, 1.36-6.39) compared to men, and people with no education (OR 4.47, 95% CI, 1.62-12.33) compared to people with secondary school certificates or above were less physically active. Of total PA, 63% were work-related, and 1% were recreation-related for women, and these figures were 55% and 3% for men. The study reports that vigorous-intensity PA is low, and recreation time is minimal. Routine PA, especially for women and people with low education levels, should be encouraged to increase PA to manage hypertension.

Factors influencing interest in recreational sports participation and its rural-urban disparity

Objectives

Recreational sports are important leisure activities. However, most studies investigating barrier factors and motivation for participation in recreational sports have been limited to specific areas (e.g., a city or school) or demographic groups (e.g., adolescents). Therefore, this study set out to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the behavioral and socioeconomic factors influencing interest in recreational sports participation in Taiwan, as well as to evaluate the effect of any urban-rural divide.

Methods

This study analyzed data collected by the “Taiwan Social Change Survey” (program five, wave 3) “Leisure Life” questionnaire. We used hierarchical linear modeling to assess respondent interest in recreational sports participation and evaluated the influence of behavioral factors, socioeconomic factors, and residence location (urban/rural).

Results

Of the 2,146 participants in this study, 50.3% were male, and the average age was 43.9 years. Location of residence (urban/rural) accounted for 35.3% of the variation in interest in recreational sports participation, while the remaining 64.7% came from the individual level. Participants who lived in rural settings were less interested in recreational sports than their urban counterparts. Gender, educational attainment, participation frequency, health-motivated interest, and appearance-motivated interest were also associated with interest in recreational sports participation.

Conclusions

Different communication strategies may be needed to effectively reach different demographic groups. We suggest that future public health campaigns aiming to increase recreational sports participation include tailored interventions and messages to effectively encourage leisure physical activities among all, regardless of demographic boundaries.

Secular trends and correlates of physical activity: The Tromsø Study 1979-2008

Background

The aim was to describe secular trends in leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and work related physical activity (WPA) from 1979 to 2008. Additionally, we explored potential cross-sectional and longitudinal correlates of LTPA and WPA.

Methods

Data are collected from 34,898 individuals (49.7% men) aged >20 years who participated in at least one Tromsø Study survey between 1979 and 2008. In each survey, the participants completed a self-administered questionnaire and underwent physical examinations. LTPA and WPA were assessed by the validated “Saltin-Grimby” 4-scale questions. Potential correlates of LTPA and WPA (sex, age, body mass index (BMI), education, smoking, self-reported cardiovascular disease, self-perceived health, and employment status) were tested using ordinal logistic regression.

Results

The age-adjusted prevalence of participants being inactive in leisure time remained relatively stable around 20% from 1979 to 2008 (range 19.9–23.6%). The age-adjusted prevalence of moderate-vigorous LTPA decreased from 23.2% in 1979–80 to 16.0% in 2001, thereafter the prevalence increased to 24.3% in 2007–08 (P <0.05). The age-adjusted prevalence of being mostly sedentary at work increased gradually from 35.5% in 1979–80 to 53.4% in 2007–08 (P <0.05). Sex, age, education, and smoking were identified as cross-sectional correlates of LTPA and WPA (P <0.05). Men had higher odds of engaging in LTPA than women (adjusted OR 1.52 [95% CI 1.39–1.67] in 2007–08), whereas the association between sex and WPA shifted over time. High education level, not being a smoker, and high WPA were associated with high LTPA, whereas low education level, being a smoker, and high levels of LTPA were associated with high WPA (P <0.05). In general, odds of engaging in LTPA and WPA decreased with age (P <0.05). Individuals with healthy BMI had higher odds of being in a higher LTPA level than those who were underweight and obese (P <0.05). Longitudinal analyses identified sex, age, education, smoking, WPA, and LTPA measured in 1979–80 as determinants of LTPA in 2007–08.

Conclusions

In Norwegian adults, the proportion of sedentary WPA increased from 1979 to 2008, whereas the proportion of inactive LTPA remained stable. Being female, older, smoker, obese or underweight, and low education level were associated with low LTPA levels.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3886-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.