Physical activity and dietary diversity in a South African sample

Abstract

The exacerbated prevalence of sedentary lifestyles and obesity globally has been attributed to lack of healthy dietary consumption coupled with inadequate levels of participation in physical activity, which are risk factors associated with, inter alia, obesity, coronary heart disease, diabetes, and several other chronic diseases. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which physical activity participation influences dietary diversity among a rural South African sample. The secondary objective was to determine the association between selected demographic variables and physical activity as well as dietary diversity in the sample. Data were collected from 580 respondents (men: 334; women: 229) using a household survey which evaluated dietary diversity and physical activity among the participants. Inferential statistical analyses were performed, viz. multiple regression analysis, independent samples t-tests, and multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) to analyse the dataset. Results indicated that 29% of the variance in dietary diversity could be attributed to physical activity. Additionally, as physical activity increased, there was a concurrent decrease in dietary diversity. The independent samples t-test yielded statistically significant results for gender, location, and household position; while, the MANOVA indicated statistically significant results for home environment, language, physical activity typology, motivation, and non-participation clarification. Physical activity levels should be taken into account when interpreting empirical differences in dietary diversity, especially regarding socio-economic conditions. Cognisance should also be given to other demographic variables such as gender, home environment, and language.