Abstract
The objective of the study was to assess the level of habitual physical activity, mainly its frequency and duration, of middle-age adults aged 50–65 years in a typical week of their life in comparison to the level of these parameters recommended for health benefits. The study carried out in the Upper Silesia region in Poland in May 2010 included 456 deliberately selected subjects (234 women and 222 men) aged 50–65 years. Numeric data were collected by diagnostic survey method using the short version of IPAQ. The surveyed men were characterized by higher level of physical activity than the surveyed women (longer duration and higher frequency) (p < 0.01). This regularity was observed both for moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity. At the same time, significantly higher percentage of men (41 %) than women (28 %) met the recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) on physical activity beneficial for health (p < 0.01). The level of physical activity of the surveyed group of older adults was estimated as unsatisfactory—72 % of women and 59 % of men did not perform physical activity resulting in the expected health benefits.
Highlights
In view of scientific information confirmed repeatedly, insufficiency of physical activity becomes the cause of epidemics of serious diseases in contemporary generations, of cardiovascular, respiratory, and musculoskeletal systems as well as neoplasms and metabolic diseases
The average frequency of vigorous- and moderate-intensity physical activity of the surveyed women and men was lower than recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) for health benefits, while vigorous-intensity physical activity was significantly more frequent among men than among women (p
The average duration of physical activity at the two examined levels of its intensity was significantly longer than the values assumed by the ACSM experts as minimal for health benefits, both among women and men, and the average duration of physical activity in the group of men was significantly higher than in the group of women (p
Summary
In view of scientific information confirmed repeatedly, insufficiency of physical activity becomes the cause of epidemics of serious diseases in contemporary generations, of cardiovascular, respiratory, and musculoskeletal systems as well as neoplasms and metabolic diseases. These diseases are the main cause of premature deaths, among adults aged 50–65 [5, 7, 12, 17, 29, 33]. The most frequently used method of assessing the level of physical activity is diagnostic survey, while the research tools are questionnaires.
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