Higher physical activity levels reflect better lifestyle behaviours amongst white collar workers: A descriptive cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationship between physical activity level and healthy lifestyle behaviours of white-collar workers. Materials and Methods: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF) was used to determine the level of physical activity, and the Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours Scale-II (HLBS-II) was used to evaluate the lifestyle behaviours. The researchers recorded anthropometric measurements of the participants via face-to-face method and questionnaires were implemented via online forms. Statistical analysis of the study was performed with the IBM SPSS Statistics version 20.0 program. Descriptive analysis was done, and all the data were presented as means and (±) standard deviation (SD). Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: In total, 229 (mean age: 35.75, 158 female) white-collar workers participated in the study. 90.4% of the participants had either undergraduate or postgraduate degrees. 55.5% of the participants were found to be inactive as stated by the IPAQ-SF scores. According to HLBS-II results, active participants had significantly higher exercise, nutrition, and stress management sub-scale scores (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between self-actualization, interpersonal relationship, and health responsibility scores of active and inactive participants (p>0.05). Overall, active participants with normal BMI had significantly higher HLBS-II scores than overweight and obese participants (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our study shows a positive relationship between physical activity levels and healthy lifestyle behaviours in office work. In order to increase the quality of life of white-collar workers, changing their behaviours such as physical inactivity and unhealthy diet through education intervention on healthy lifestyle holds a vital place.