Recommendations of the World Health Organization on leisure physical activity and their implementation among Polish population

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Recommendations of the World Health Organization on leisure physical activity and their implementation among Polish population

Journal Title: Medycyna Sportowa - Year 2013, Vol 29, Issue 4

Abstract

[b]Background. [/b]In order to effectively sustain a good health through physical activity, it is necessary to determine an optimal quantity, frequency, intensity and the type of such activity. The aim of the current investigation is to analyze the leisure physical activity amongst Polish population and to evaluate its contribution towards implementation of WHO recommendations on physical activity for health.[b]Material and methods. [/b]The experimental sample consisted of 1642 Polish people aged 18-64. The surveys were conducted individually via telephone with the support of CATI system. The Polish long IPAQ version was an experimental tool in the current study. The IBM® SPSS® Statistics 21 was used for the statistical analyses. The descriptive statistics included Mean ( ), Median (me), extreme values (max, min) and Standard Deviations (SD). In order to examine whether the differences between variables were significant, the inferential statistical analysis was run (with the p value of .05). [b]Results.[/b] Close to 80% of Polish population declare undertaking physical activity. Cycling, swimming and running are the most popular sports in Poland (21.2%, 13.4% and 12.2%, respectively). As many as 70.2% of participants declare that their leisure physical activity is vigorous. The moderate leisure physical activity is declared by 24.4% of participants and walking by 25.5%. Regardless of the intensity of the activity undertaken, Polish citizens are less likely to perform regular exercises (p&lt;.05) (&gt;5 days per week) than working out 1-2 or 3-5 days per week. The average energy expenditure of vigorous physical activity is 1561 (±2397.3) MET-min per week, 226.1 MET-min per week (±660.15) for moderate physical activity and 131.3 (±359.03) MET-min per week for walking. Participation in sports allows 58.1% of Polish population to adhere to WHO recommendations on physical activity for health. Gender, age and the level of education did not influence these differences significantly.[b]Conclusions.[/b] The results of this study point to the fact that despite the increase in the proportion of physically active Poles, the percentage that meets the WHO recommendations is still too low. This suggests the need to stimulate health-promoting behaviours of Poles in all stages of their lives. It is also necessary to continue to explore scientifically-based methods of evaluation of physical activity level of the population.

Authors and Affiliations

Elżbieta Biernat, Monika Piątkowska

Keywords

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EP ID EP55995
DOI -
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