Abstract
BackgroundThe Sami people is an indigenous minority population living in the northern parts of Norway and mainly in rural areas. We lack data of contemporary levels of physical activity (PA) in rural regions of Northern Norway and in the Sami population in particular. We aimed to describe the PA levels and investigate whether PA levels differs between Sami and non-Sami and between coastal and inland areas.MethodsWe used data from the second survey of the Population-based Study on Health and Living Conditions in Regions with Sami and Norwegian Populations – the SAMINOR 2 Clinical Survey (2012–2014) that includes the adult population in 10 municipalities in the counties Troms, Finnmark and Nordland. Participants self-reported on PA, ethnicity and modifiable lifestyle factors. Twelve thousand four hundred fifty-five individuals were invited with a response rate of 48.2% (n = 6004 participants). We tested differences using chi-square tests, two sample t-tests and linear regression models.ResultsAmong 5628 participants, 41.1 and 40.9% of men and women, respectively, were defined as Sami. We found no ethnic differences in PA in men overall. However, Sami men living in Tana, and Nesseby reported higher PA compared to non-Sami men in the same area. For Sami women there was overall lower PA levels compared to non-Sami women, especially pronounced in Kautokeino/ Karasjok.ConclusionThis study showed small differences in PA levels between Sami and non-Sami men. Sami women had lower PA levels compared to their non-Sami counterparts. It is important to identify whether there are differences in various ethnic populations, together with other predictors for PA in future planning of public health interventions.
Highlights
Strong evidence shows that physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour increase the risk of several health conditions, including non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, depression and risk of falls [1, 2]
There have been observed a higher risk of stroke, and Sami people have reported symptoms of angina pectoris more frequently compared to non-Sami [15, 16]
The proportion of Sami differed by region; the Sami were in large majority in the “winter, inland” group, and a smaller majority in the “winter, coast” group, while they were in minority in the “autumn, spring, coast” group (Tables 1 and 2)
Summary
Strong evidence shows that physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour increase the risk of several health conditions, including non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, depression and risk of falls [1, 2]. The study included 5099 Norwegian men and women in a nationally representative sample and PA level was collected using accelerometer based data [5]. The Sami people is an indigenous minority population living in the northern parts of Norway and mainly in rural areas. We aimed to describe the PA levels and investigate whether PA levels differs between Sami and non-Sami and between coastal and inland areas
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