Correlates associated with the compliance for moderate, vigorous, and overall physical activity recommendations of public park users in Oeiras – Portugal

Abstract

ABSTRACT A cross-sectional study with data from 403 users from public parks in Oeiras – Portugal was conducted to measure their amount of physical activity and sedentary behavior and investigate the distinct correlates associated with the chance of complying with the overall, moderate, and vigorous physical activity recommendations by the World Health Organization. We collected sociodemographic data, physical activity, sedentary behavior, the prevalence of disease, amount and quality of sleep, subjective well-being, where and with whom they live, and the usual way of commuting. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression models were used, and the results indicated that 75.2% of the Oeiras’ public park users met the overall physical activity guidelines from the World Health Organization and accumulated 315 min/day (±165) of sedentary behavior. Besides that, the main correlates associated with a lower compliance to physical activity recommendations were a higher sedentary behavior (for total, moderate, and vigorous physical activity) and age (for total and vigorous physical activity), a lower education level (for total and moderate physical activity), lower sleep quality (only for moderate physical activity), and ‘seeming sad’ at the moment of the interview (for total, moderate, and vigorous physical activity).