Quantity, Type, and Correlates of Physical Activity Among American Middle Eastern University Students

Abstract

The prevalence of hypokinetic disease among persons of Middle Eastern heritage is higher than whites and research on American young adults of this population is limited. Therefore 214 tertiary students of Middle Eastern descent self-reported their physical activity (PA) over a 1-week monitoring period using pedometers and daily activity logs. Daily step count averaged 9,256 (SD = 3,084) steps, while daily energy expenditure averaged 6.26 kcal/kg (SD = 4.92). Most participants reported no weekly engagement in sport (69.2%) and walk/run (52.8%) activities, and at least once-weekly engagement in conditioning (68.7%) activities. Moderately religious and highly acculturated men, and Muslims, and moderately/highly acculturated persons were more likely to average ≥ = 10,000 steps/day and engage in at least one sport activity per week, respectively. These findings may be related to religious and cultural issues unique to Middle Eastern American college students whose collectivist social affiliations with family and community members may facilitate or inhibit various aspects of PA behavior.

Key words:

• Arabs
• cultural studies
• epidemiology
• health behavior

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Kahan

This study was partially funded by the San Diego State University Faculty Grant-in-Aid and ENS Chair and departmental awards. Please address all correspondence regarding this article to David Kahan, School of Exercise & Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-7251.