Correlates associated with the compliance for moderate, vigorous, and overall physical activity recommendations of public park users in Oeiras – Portugal

ABSTRACT

A cross-sectional study with data from 403 users from public parks in Oeiras – Portugal was conducted to measure their amount of physical activity and sedentary behavior and investigate the distinct correlates associated with the chance of complying with the overall, moderate, and vigorous physical activity recommendations by the World Health Organization. We collected sociodemographic data, physical activity, sedentary behavior, the prevalence of disease, amount and quality of sleep, subjective well-being, where and with whom they live, and the usual way of commuting. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression models were used, and the results indicated that 75.2% of the Oeiras’ public park users met the overall physical activity guidelines from the World Health Organization and accumulated 315 min/day (±165) of sedentary behavior. Besides that, the main correlates associated with a lower compliance to physical activity recommendations were a higher sedentary behavior (for total, moderate, and vigorous physical activity) and age (for total and vigorous physical activity), a lower education level (for total and moderate physical activity), lower sleep quality (only for moderate physical activity), and ‘seeming sad’ at the moment of the interview (for total, moderate, and vigorous physical activity).

KEYWORDS:

• Sedentary behavior
• guidelines
• green spaces
• environmental, physical inactivity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical statement

The study was approved by the ethics committee of the Universidade Lusófona (ULHT) under nº J1822, on 18 January 2022.

Additional information

Funding

The author (SCT) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research: This work was supported by Oeiras City Council, through the Technical and Scientific Cooperation Program (2020/22).

Notes on contributors

Sabrina C. Teno

Sabrina C. Teno is a Ph.D. candidate in Physical Activity and Health at Lusófona University. Her background is in Physical Education, besides that, she is a specialist in exercise prescription, with a Master's in Exercise and Wellbeing. She won the Program of Technical and Scientific Cooperation of the city council of Oeiras - Portugal. Her main interests are in physical activity, sedentary behavior, and their relations with health, besides that, she is interested in how the context relates to physical activity.

Hélio Silva

Hélio Silva is a Ph.D. candidate in Physical Activity and Health at Lusófona University. His background is in Sport Sciences with a Master's in Exercise and Wellbeing. His main interests are in physical activity and sedentary behavior, and their relations with health.

Pedro B. Júdice

Pedro B. Júdice is an assistant professor at Faculty of Sport in Lusófona University. His background is in Sport Sciences, with a Master in Exercise and Health and a PhD in Physical Activity and Health (2016) at Faculty of Human Kinetics – University of Lisbon, followed by 3 years of a post-doc, both supported by Foundation for science and technology (FCT). His main interest is on sedentary behavior and all the implications that different patterns of accumulation can have on body composition, energy expenditure, and metabolic outcomes. He is also interested in investigating the impact of the environment on physical activity levels.