Physical Activity Knowledge Research Articles

Culturally Tailored Lifestyle Modification Strategies for Hypertension Management: A Narrative Review.

Hypertension (HTN) is a significant global health challenge affecting billions of individuals worldwide. The prevalence of HTN varies considerably across the globe due to diverse factors, such as lifestyle influenced by culture, genetics, health care access, and socioeconomic conditions. Lifestyle modification has a substantial impact on blood pressure management; however, some cultural practices and behaviors affect recommended lifestyle modification strategies for HTN management. The purpose of this review was to explore lifestyle modification strategies for HTN management from a cultural perspective. Lifestyle modification, including physical activity, stress reduction, changes in dietary patterns (adopting a low-sodium diet and intake of fruit and vegetables), and weight management, provide an effective non-pharmacologic intervention for the management of hypertension. Individual's cultural practices have the potential to determine their diet, physical activity levels, knowledge, and perception about HTN, adherence to treatment and medications, and the use of local herbal preparations for HTN management. Culture focuses on individuals' belief, practices and how these beliefs and practices influence their lifestyle behaviors for HTN management. It is important to consider patients' cultural beliefs before recommending lifestyle behaviors for HTN management.

Perceptions of Parents of Children With Disabilities Toward Physical Education: A Systematic Review

Physical education (PE) has a unique opportunity in not only supporting children with disabilities but also their parents’ physical-activity knowledge and support behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic literature review was to synthesize published studies regarding parent perspectives toward physical education (PE) for their children with disabilities. A total of 19 articles met inclusion criteria. Three themes emerged: (a) parents’ understanding of adapted PE (A/PE), (b) parents’ expectations of A/PE teachers, and (c) parents’ undeveloped relationships with A/PE teachers. There exists a disconnection between parent expectations and PE teachers’ abilities to accommodate their children and develop lines of communication. Additionally, parental value toward PE was often lower compared with other areas of need for their children. Future research suggests exploring teacher perspectives in understanding the relationships with parents. Furthermore, exploring the origins of parental values for PE and its impact on their perspectives warrants further investigation.

Prevention and management of hypertension in middle-aged and elderly through screening and education (Pre-post intervention)

Maintaining quality of life and physical health in the elderly is crucial for their overall well-being. Hypertension, a prevalent condition among the elderly in Indonesia, requires targeted interventions to mitigate its impact. A quasi-experimental pre-post intervention study was conducted in Bandar Lor, Kediri City, Indonesia, involving 106 elderly participants. The Paguyuban Raga Paruh Baya Lansia Sejahtera (PURABAYA), a senior wellness group program aimed to improve hypertension management through educational sessions on physical activity, nutrition, and hypertension management exercises. The program significantly increased participants' knowledge of physical activity (median increase from 59.62 to 82.69) and nutrition (median increase from 80.51 to 95.38). Systolic blood pressure decreased markedly (median from 173.86 mmHg to 142.53 mmHg), indicating improved hypertension control. However, there was no significant change in diastolic blood pressure. The findings underscore the effectiveness of targeted educational interventions in enhancing health literacy and managing systolic blood pressure among the elderly. The PURABAYA program's success suggests its potential for scalability and adaptation to broader public health initiatives.

Prevalence and Determinants of Uncontrolled Diabetes Mellitus: A Community-Based Study from Karnataka, India

Background: Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus is a significant health challenge, especially in developing countries. Factors contributing to it vary by region, making it crucial to understand them for effective blood sugar control. The study’s objectives were to estimate the prevalence of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and its determinants among residents of selected areas of Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka. Methodology: This study was conducted from October 2021 to May 2023 among adult diabetics residing in the Jokatte and Madani Nagar areas of Dakshina Kannada. The required sample size was estimated at 180 and 90 diabetic patients were randomly selected from each study area. Data were collected by field workers using a pre-tested questionnaire, and a lab technician obtained blood samples for HbA1c. Data analysis was performed using SPSS Ver 27. Results: The study enrolled 180 diabetics with a mean (± S.D) age of 56.9 (±10.3) years. Uncontrolled diabetes was noted in 75.6% of diabetics. Significant determinants for uncontrolled diabetes were longer duration of diabetes, poor knowledge of blood sugar tests, irregular testing and insufficient physical activity. Conclusion: The study observed an alarming prevalence of uncontrolled diabetes and identified its key determinants. Healthcare providers must implement targeted interventions addressing these factors to achieve effective diabetes control.

Validation of two novel human activity recognition models for typically developing children and children with Cerebral Palsy.

Human Activity Recognition models have potential to contribute to valuable and detailed knowledge of habitual physical activity for typically developing children and children with Cerebral Palsy. The main objective of the present study was to develop and validate two Human Activity Recognition models. One trained on data from typically developing children (n = 63), the second also including data from children with Cerebral Palsy (n = 16), engaging in standardised activities and free play. Our data was collected using accelerometers and ground truth was established with video annotations. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the influence of window settings on model performance. Utilizing the Extreme gradient boost (XGBoost) classifier, twelve sub-models were created, with 1-,3- and 5-seconds windows, with and without overlap. Both Human Activity Recognition models demonstrated excellent predictive capabilities (>92%) for standardised activities for both typically developing and Cerebral Palsy. From all window sizes, the 1-second window performed best for all test groups. Accuracy was slightly lower (>75%) for the Cerebral Palsy test group performing free play activities. The impact of window size and overlap varied depending on activity. In summary both Human Activity Recognition models effectively predict standardised activities, surpassing prior models for typically developing and children with Cerebral Palsy. Notably, the model trained on combined typically developing children and Cerebral Palsy data performed exemplary across all test groups. Researchers should select window settings aligned with their specific research objectives.

The effect of an educational intervention on healthy lifestyle knowledge and behaviour among middle-aged women

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the impact of an educational intervention on middle-aged women’s knowledge and behaviour regarding various aspects of a healthy lifestyle. Design: Quasi-experimental study involving 150 middle-aged women (divided into experimental and control groups). Setting: Participants were selected from health centres of Tehran, Iran. Method: Data collection included demographic information, knowledge of a healthy lifestyle and healthy lifestyle behaviour. Participants in both the intervention and control groups completed the questionnaires before and 2 months after the educational intervention. The intervention involved 10 minutes of face-to-face training followed by distribution of training booklets provided by the Ministry of Health in Iran. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS. Results: Within the intervention group, significant differences were observed in total healthy lifestyle knowledge and subscales for physical activity knowledge, anthropometry knowledge, healthy diet knowledge, and smoking knowledge, between the pre- and post-intervention periods. Other than for smoking behaviour, there was no significant difference in healthy behaviours pre- and post-intervention for the experimental and also the control group. Conclusion: While there was an increase in knowledge about healthy lifestyles following the intervention, this knowledge increase was not associated with a change in healthy lifestyle behaviours. Attention should therefore be given to other influences including socio-economic factors, mental health status, environmental factors, cultural influences, duration of the intervention and psychological factors if changes in healthy behaviour are to be achieved.

Understanding quality-of-life determinants in coronary arterial disease patients

The study aimed to examine the correlation of determinant factors of quality of life in coronary arterial disease (CAD) patients, including knowledge of disease, smoking cessation, physical activity, and dietary regulation. A quantitative, cross-sectional study using convenience was conducted among 216 CAD patients from the West Sumatra, Indonesia, outpatient cardiovascular center. Data were collected using the cardiovascular disease knowledge assessment questionnaire, smoking cessation, physical activity, diet questionnaire, and self-assessment questionnaire to measure knowledge of the disease, smoking cessation, physical activity, diet, and quality of life, respectively data analysis using Chi-square, Pearson correlation, and multivariate linear regression test. The result showed that dietary regulation was the most influential variable on the quality of life of CAD patients (B=1.670, SE=0.341), followed by smoking cessation, physical activity, and knowledge about the disease. Our data suggest that dietary regulation, smoking cessation, and regular physical activity as modifiable CAD risk factors and disease knowledge improve the quality of life of CAD patients. Future research and clinician intervention for CAD awareness of lifestyle modification should be expanded to focus on barriers and their challenges during cardiac rehabilitation.

Narrative Review on the Factors Affecting Fast Food Consumption among Adults

As a result of increasing industrialisation in various countries and the change in their populations' eating patterns, residents may be shifting from a low-calorie diet to one with a high energy density. People tend to consume fewer fruits and vegetables and instead, they opt for more refined carbs, animal protein, processed meat, and fast food. This highlights how, as globalisation progresses, people are rapidly losing their cultural identities concerning traditional healthy foods and local produce. Fast food intake and lifestyle changes have contributed significantly to the increase in the prevalence of food-related chronic diseases. Adults suffering from diet-related difficulties, particularly chronic illness, have become the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in many countries. Adults' fast food consumption is influenced by factors such as chronological age, gender, socioeconomic level, food availability and accessibility, BMI, physical activity, and nutrition knowledge. This review focuses on aspects that influence people's fast food eating habits, providing insights into how health-related problems associated with fast food consumption can be curbed.

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) pediatric cancer survivors’ knowledge, behaviors, beliefs, and adjustment differences across weight ranges

ABSTRACT Obesity presents significant medical and psychosocial risks for adolescent and young adult (AYA) pediatric cancer survivors (AYACS). Using screening data collected for a new healthy lifestyle pilot RCT, this study evaluated differences in AYACS’ physical activity and nutrition-related knowledge, behaviors, beliefs, and adjustments across weight ranges. AYACS with elevated body mass index (BMI; i.e. overweight, obese) reported significantly lower self-esteem, body esteem, and weight-related self-efficacy, as well as greater depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms compared to AYACS with average weight. AYACS with average weight also reported better interpersonal relationship quality and stress management compared to AYACS with elevated BMI. Our findings provide insight to better tailor our newly developed healthy lifestyle-focused interventions for AYACS.

Evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of a co-designed physical activity intervention for rural middle schoolers: a pilot study

BackgroundLack of physical activity is a concern for children across diverse backgrounds, particularly affecting those in rural areas who face distinct challenges compared to their urban counterparts. Community-derived interventions are needed that consider the unique context and additional physical activity barriers in under-resourced rural settings. Therefore, a prospective pre-post pilot/feasibility study of Hoosier Sport was conducted over 8-weeks with 6th and 7th grade children in a low-socioeconomic rural middle school setting. The primary objective of the present study was to assess trial- and intervention-related feasibility indicators; and the secondary objective was to collect preliminary assessment data for physical activity levels, fitness, psychological needs satisfaction, and knowledge of physical activity and nutrition among participating youth.MethodsThis prospective 8-week pilot/feasibility study took place in the rural Midwestern United States where twenty-four middle school students participated in a mixed-methods pre-post intervention during physical education classes. The intervention included elements like sport-based youth development, individualized goal setting, physical activity monitoring, pedometer usage, and health education. Data were collected at baseline (T1) and post-intervention (T3), with intermediate measures during the intervention (T2). Qualitative data were integrated through semi-structured interviews. Analytical methods encompassed descriptive statistics, correlations, repeated measures ANOVA, and thematic analysis.ResultsKey findings indicate robust feasibility, with intervention-related scores (FIM, AIM, and IAM) consistently surpassing the “good” threshold and 100% retention and recruitment success. Additionally, participants showed significant physical performance improvement, shifting from the 25th to the 50th percentile in the 6-minute walk test (p < 0.05). Autonomy and competence remained high, reflecting positive perceptions of program practicality. Nutrition knowledge, initially low, significantly improved at post-intervention (p < 0.01), highlighting the efficacy of targeted nutritional education in Hoosier Sport.ConclusionsThis study pioneers a community-engaged model for physical activity intervention in under-resourced rural settings. Positive participant feedback, coupled with improvements in physical fitness and psychosocial factors, highlights the potential of the co-design approach. The findings offer valuable insights and a practical template for future community-based research, signaling the promising impact of such interventions on holistic well-being. This research lays the foundation for subsequent phases of the ORBIT model, emphasizing collaborative, community-driven approaches to address the complex issue of declining physical activity levels among adolescents.

Gen Z's Willingness to Adopt Plant-Based Diets: Empirical Evidence from Greece, India, and the UK.

Comprising the largest population cohort on this planet, Gen Z presents a future-oriented consumer segment driven by climate change and food. This study sought to investigate Gen Z's perceptions toward plant-based foods and diets and explore the relationship that attitude components, meal preparation involvement, personal and lifestyle factors, and perceived barriers in adopting a plant-based diet have with willingness to adopt green-eating practices. Using cross-sectional data from university students in Greece, India, and the UK, various tools were employed to determine the factors influencing youths' consumer behavior toward animal-protein substitutes. PCA indicated the underlying dimensions of students' viewpoints on plant-based foods, whereas hierarchical and k-means clustering provided the cluster structure. An ordered probit model was estimated to delineate Gen Z's willingness to adopt plant-based diets and distinguish among mostly unwilling, somewhat willing, and mostly willing youths. Our findings identified two consumer segments, namely proponents and opponents of plant-based foods and diets, with statistically significant differences in the perceived health benefits of plant-based diets, attachment to animal-based proteins, perceived exclusion of animal-based foods, dissatisfaction with plant-based foods' attributes, and demand for ensuring adequate protein intake. The ordered probit model estimates showed that there is a "homogeneity" in the factors influencing youths' intention to adopt plant-based diets, with attitude components, meal preparation indicators, perceived barriers to eating "green", and personal factors, such as self-assessed knowledge of healthy eating and physical activity, being strongly associated with students' willingness to switch to plant-based diets in all three countries. Mapping potential obstacles and enablers in terms of shifting to more green-eating behaviors, our findings could add information to better understand the factors affecting food choice and youths' transition to a more sustainable lifestyle.

The development of an EU-wide nutrition and physical activity expert knowledge base to support a personalised mobile application across various EU population groups.

A healthy lifestyle comprising regular physical activity and an adequate diet is imperative for the prevention of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and some cancers. Advances in information computer technology offer the opportunity to provide personalised lifestyle advice directly to the individual through devices such as smartphones or tablets. The overall aim of the PROTEIN project (Wilson-Barnes etal., 2021) was to develop a smartphone application that could provide tailored and dynamic nutrition and physical activity advice directly to the individual in real time. However, to create this mobile health (m-health) smartphone application, a knowledge base of reference ranges for macro-/micronutrient intake, anthropometry, biochemical, physiological and sleep parameters was required to underpin the parameters of the recommender systems. Therefore, the principal aim of this emerging research paper is to describe the process by which experts in nutrition and physiology from the PROTEIN consortium collaborated to develop the nutritional and physical activity requirements, based upon existing recommendations, for 10 separate population groups living within the EU including, but not limited to healthy adults, adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, excess weight, obesity and iron deficiency anaemia. A secondary aim is to describe the development of a library of 24-h meal plans appropriate for the same groups and also encompassing various dietary preferences and allergies. Overall, the consortium devised an extensive nutrition and physical activity knowledge base that is pertinent to 10 separate EU user groups, is available in 7 different languages and is practically implemented via a library of culturally appropriate, 24-h meal plans.

Physical Activity Knowledge and Personal Habits with Recommendations for Patients: Self-Assessment by Primary Care Physicians.

Primary care physicians (PCPs) should be active and reliable promoters of physical activity (PA), but there is no strong evidence that their knowledge and personal habits contribute to this. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of PA recommendations provided by PCPs to patients in terms of their self-assessed PA knowledge and personal habits. This study used a cross-sectional design and data were collected through a self-reported online questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 202 PCPs from a large Lithuanian city, Kaunas, of which 122 were females (60.4%) and 80 were males (39.6%). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 29 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) for Windows. The findings show that the frequency of recommendations related to providing PA to patients is statistically significantly dependent on PCP health-friendly or partially favorable PA habits, their self-assessed level of knowledge about physical activity, and their self-assessed competence related to providing PA recommendations to patients, but this is not statistically dependent on objectively assessed level of knowledge related to PA.

Fitness promotion in college: the relationships among students' perceived physical literacy, knowledge, and physical fitness.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among perceived physical literacy (PPL), knowledge of physical activity and fitness (PAF knowledge), and physical fitness. Undergraduates (N = 968, female = 414; Mage = 18.64) from a public university in central China completed a simplified Chinese version of the PPL instrument, an online test for PAF knowledge, and seven health-related physical fitness tests. The PPL includes three dimensions: (a) confidence and physical competence, (b) motivation, and (c) interaction with the environment. The fitness tests measured lung capacity, body mass index (BMI), and performances in 800 (female)/1000 (male) meters run, 50 meters dash (50 M), sit-up (female) / pull-up (male), standing long jump (SLJ), and sit-and-reach. PPL and its dimensions significantly predicted six fitness test performances both in male (β: -0.42 - 0.37; p < 0.01-0.05; R2: 0.01-0.13) and female (β: -0.59 - 0.49; p < 0.01-0.05; R2: 0.03-0.13) students. PAF knowledge (β: -0.17 - 0.18; p < 0.01-0.05; R2: 0.01-0.05) significantly predicted BMI (males) and performances in 50 M (females) and SLJ (females) tests. To support college students' fitness development and maintenance, tailored physical activity and fitness promotion programs are needed to strengthen students' PPL and PAF knowledge.

Archetype analysis and the PHATE algorithm as methods to describe and visualize pregnant women's levels of physical activity knowledge.

The knowledge of physical activity (PA) recommended for pregnant women and practical application of it has positive impact on the outcome. Nevertheless, it is estimated that in high-income countries over 40% of pregnant women are insufficiently physically active. One of the reasons is insufficient knowledge pregnant women have about allowed effort during pregnancy and both recommended and not recommended physical activities. Description of knowledge about physical activity the women have and distinguishing patterns of their knowledge is becoming an increasingly important issue. A common approach to handle survey data that reflect knowledge involves clustering methods or Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Nevertheless, new procedures of data analysis are still being sought. Using survey data collected by the Institute of Mother and Child Archetypal analysis has been applied to detect levels of knowledge reflected by answers given in a questionnaire and to derive patterns of knowledge contained in the data. Next, PHATE (Potential of Heat-diffusion for Affinity-based Trajectory Embedding) algorithm has been used to visualize the results and to get a deeper insight into the data structure. The results were compared with picture derived from PCA. Three archetypes representing three patterns of knowledge have been distinguished and described. The presentation of complex data in a low dimension was obtained with help of PHATE. The formations revealed by PHATE have been successfully described in terms of knowledge levels reflected by the survey. Finally, comparison of PHATE with PCA has been shown. Archetype analysis combined with PHATE provides novel opportunities in examining nonlinear structure of survey data and allows for visualization that captures complex relations in the data. PHATE has made it possible to distinguish sets of objects that have common features but were captured neither by Archetypal analysis nor PCA. Moreover, for our data, PHATE provides an image of data structure which is more detailed than interpretation of PCA.

Physical Activity and Knowledge about Nutrition Among Adolescents at Madrasah Aliyah Negeri (MAN) Surabaya City

Background: Adolescents are a window of opportunity for future development, so it is necessary to invest in the health and welfare of adolescents in accordance with the Adolescent Nutrition Program launched by the Indonesian government to adjust the Sustainable Development Goal at the UN meeting with a communication strategy for social change and adolescent behavior. Methods: This study used a quantitative design with 196 respondents whose samples were taken with probability sampling techniques in the form of simple random sampling. Physical activity data was taken from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), data on knowledge of nutrients obtained from the Self Administere Qustionnaire (QuesCa) and intensity of fast food consumption obtained from the Food Frequency Questionnaire while nutritional intake through 24-hour food recall form. Data analysis used multiple linear regression with SPSS 25 statistical tools. Results: Based on the t test, it was concluded that there was an effect of physical activity and knowledge of nutrients with a significance value of 0.000 for each of the two variables. While the intensity of fast food consumption has a significance value of 0.968 (more than 0.05) which concludes that there is no effect of the intensity of fast food consumption on nutritional intake. Nutrient knowledge is the factor that most influences nutrient intake with a t-statistic of 5.941. Conclusions: In this study, it was concluded that there was an effect of physical activity and nutritional knowledge on nutritional intake, while the intensity of fast food consumption did not affect nutritional intake. The dominant factor affecting nutritional intake in this study was nutritional knowledge.

Preventing functional decline in hospitalized older adults in medical ward: a best practice implementation project.

Functional decline frequently occurs in older adults in hospitals. The aim of this project was to promote evidence-based strategies for physical activity to prevent functional decline in hospitalized older adults in a medical center in southern Taiwan. This project was guided by the JBI Evidence Implementation Framework. Seven audit criteria were derived from a JBI evidence summary and a baseline audit involving 25 nurses and 30 hospitalized older adults was conducted to compare current practice with best practice recommendations. The JBI Getting Research into Practice (GRiP) approach was used to identify barriers to implementation, and strategies were developed to overcome those barriers. A follow-up audit was conducted to measure any changes in compliance. After implementing the strategies, the pass rate of nursing staff improved in the physical activity knowledge test, rising from 56% to 88%. Compliance of nursing staff with providing physical activity instructions using evidence-based guidelines to hospitalized older adults reached 80%. The incidence of functional decline among hospitalized older adults decreased from 36.7% to 20%. The results of this best practice implementation project suggest that initiating physical activity as early as possible for hospitalized older adults once their medical condition has stabilized can help prevent functional decline. http://links.lww.com/IJEBH/A171.

FUN AEROBIC DAN EDUKASI KESEHATAN MENGENAI AKTIVITAS FISIK DAN KONSUMSI MAKANAN BERGIZI DI SD LAZUARDI CORDOVA GCS, JAKARTA BARAT

One of the problems of school-age children is a change in lifestyle from traditional life style to sedentary life style which is the cause of lack of physical activity that can increase the risk of obesity. The practice of regular physical activity is very important to improve body health which can have an impact on student achievement. Communication, information, and education among students about the importance of practicing regular physical activity are needed to improve knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physical activity. The purpose of this activity is to provide health education about physical activity and consumption of nutritious food, practice aerobic gymnastics together, and health examinations and consultations. The targets of this activity are students, parents, teachers, and employees of SD Lazuardi Cordova GCS, West Jakarta. These activities were carried out in the form of health education through lectures and discussions, practice aerobic gymnastics together, health checks such as height, weight, blood pressure, nutritional status, blood sugar, and uric acid, as well as health consultations. Regular health education in schools is needed to improve health knowledge, attitudes, and practices in students.

Effects of Exercise Habits and Gender on Sports e-Learning Behavior: Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Study.

In the post-epidemic era, an increasing number of individuals were accustomed to learning sports and physical activity knowledge online for fitness and health demands. However, most previous studies have examined the influence of e-learning materials and resources on learners and have neglected intrinsic factors such as experience and physiological characteristics. Therefore, we conducted a study to investigate the effect of exercise habits and gender on sports e-learning behavior via eye-tracking technology. We recruited a sample of 60 undergraduate students (mean age = 19.6) from a university in Nanjing, China. They were randomly assigned into 4 groups based on 2 genders × 2 exercise habits. Their gaze behavior was collected by an eye-tracking device during the experiment. The cognitive Load Test and Learning Effect Test were conducted at the end of the individual experiment. (1) Compared to the non-exercise habit group, the exercise habit group had a higher fixation count (P<0.05), a shorter average fixation duration (P<0.05), a smaller average pupil diameter (P<0.05), and a lower subjective cognitive load (P<0.05) and better learning outcome (P<0.05). (2) Male participants showed a greater tendency to process information from the video area of interest (AOIs), and had lower subjective cognitive load (P < 0.05) and better learning outcomes (P < 0.05). (3) There was no interaction effect between exercise habits and gender for any of the indicators (P > 0.05). Our results indicate that exercise habits effectively enhance sports e-learning outcomes and reduce cognitive load. The exercise habits group showed significant improvements in fixation counts, average fixation duration, and average pupil diameter. Furthermore, male subjects exhibited superior learning outcomes, experienced lower cognitive load, and demonstrated greater attentiveness to dynamic visual information. These conclusions are expected to improve sports e-learning success and address educational inequality.

Use of transtheoretical model to facilitate physical activity and promote cardiovascular health knowledge in an urban community setting

Background: There is increasing evidence that physical activity promotes cardiovascular health (CVH) and reduce the chances of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to determine the impacts of a complex physical activity intervention designed collaboratively with the community and tailored to the needs of individual on physical activity knowledge and behaviour with the intention to improve CVH within an urban population context. Method: A physical activity programme involving 50 participants was developed and implemented collaboratively with the community, in a participatory approach at least twice a week, and monitored at two-week intervals throughout the project. Focus group interview was used to explore the barriers and ways of overcoming barriers to physical activity among the participants. One-to-one interviews were used to explore challenges that each participant encountered in trying to improve physical activity and to tailor specific advice depending on a participant’s peculiar circumstances. Questionnaire was used to monitor participants’ reported physical activity as well as evaluate changes in knowledge about how physical activity affects CVH. Results: At baseline, most participants reported that they were unaware of the importance of physical activity to cardiovascular health. At week 4, there was a shift, with more participants reporting awareness, contemplation, and intention to increase levels of physical activity, compared to baseline. At week 8, there was another shift, with more participants reporting attempting to exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week, although not always meeting up to the challenge. At week 10 there was a shift to more participants in the adoption phase (compared to week 6) and many reporting that the behaviour had become sustainable (compared to week 4). By week 12 there was a significant shift towards more participants encouraging others to become more physically active, that continued to increase at week 14. Conclusion: Programmes such as this can have a significant impact on awareness within a few weeks, and many participants reported that they are maintaining a change in behaviour, that might impact on future health, after three months.