Assessment of Physical Activity Level of Korean Farmers to Establish Estimated Energy Requirements during Busy Farming Season

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the physical activity level of Korean farmers to establish their estimated energy requirements during busy farming season. 113 farmers (mean age 51.9 ± 7.2 years, male 42, female 71) who own farmland area above 300 pyung participated in measurement of body weight and height and interviewing of oneday activity diaries. There was no significant difference in age, BMI between male and female. Obesity prevalence according to BMI among male and female farmers was 40.5% and 50.7% respectively. The farmers spent about 7 hours in sleeping and spent about 4 hours 35 minutes working on the farm and spent about 15 hours 30 minutes (64.6% of 24 hours) in “very light activities” and spent about 3 hours 31 minutes (14.7%) in “light activities”. Physical activity level (PAL, activity coefficient) of male farmers was 2.63 which was significantly higher than that (2.19) of female farmers (p < 0.05). Estimated energy requirements (EER) for farmers who were different in age and gender were suggested. For example, the estimated energy requirements for male and female farmers were 3058 kcal/ day and 2279 kcal/day, respectively. The results of this study suggest that estimated energy requirements (EER) of farmers should be differentiated according to seasonal workload and energy balance of farmers should be evaluated to prevent obesity. (Korean J Community Nutr 16(6) : 751~761, 2011)