Abstract
National and international healthcare organizations propose guidelines for physical activity worldwide, defining its characteristics. These guidelines’ practical applications are difficult to estimate, since they are not fully followed. The aim of the present cross-sectional observational study was to assess awareness about guidelines for physical activity and to evaluate their practical applications in a sample of the Italian population. In total, 310 participants completed an online survey (mean age 29.10 ± 4.44), assessing the habits, beliefs and health effects of physical activity. In total, 39.35% of respondents were inactive. In total, 6.91% of active respondents did not perform a warm-up phase at the beginning of each training session and 77.14% did not check their own heart rate during the training session. Approximately half of respondents reported erroneous beliefs about the type, frequency and volume of physical activity, compared to data proposed by the guidelines. The preventive effect of physical activity was clearly perceived for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and depression. Several subjects misinterpreted the preventive role of physical activity in colon and breast cancers, and in femur and vertebral fractures. Habits and beliefs about physical activity in the general population are far from the guidelines and recommendations. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the conscious practice of physical activity further.
Highlights
Physical inactivity is a worldwide problem [1] causing 3.2 million deaths per year globally, reaching fourth place in the list of risk factors [2]
Physical activity (PA), defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure [5], is encouraged in the general population through the definition of new settings, the higher awareness of health professionals in stimulating participation among health subjects and patients and through social and media advertisements to spread benefits related to PA
The results of the present study allow us to discuss several statements about habits related to the practical application of guidelines for PA in the general population and about beliefs regarding its effects on health
Summary
Physical inactivity is a worldwide problem [1] causing 3.2 million deaths per year globally, reaching fourth place in the list of risk factors [2]. Reducing physical inactivity is a main target of several international public health initiatives. The “Global Action Plan for Physical Activity 2018–2030”, produced by the World Health. Organization (“More active People for a Healthier World”), points to a 15% relative reduction in the global prevalence of physical inactivity in adults and in adolescents by 2030 [4]. Physical activity (PA), defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure [5], is encouraged in the general population through the definition of new settings (i.e., schools, workplace, local communities), the higher awareness of health professionals in stimulating participation among health subjects and patients and through social and media advertisements to spread benefits related to PA. Public Health 2020, 17, 3980; doi:10.3390/ijerph17113980 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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