Factors related to non-participation in physical activity among the students in Hong Kong

Neighborhood Built and Social Environment Influences on Lifestyle Behaviors among College Students in a High-Density City: A Photovoice Study

Based on the social ecological approach, a photovoice study was conducted to explore how neighborhood built and social environments facilitate or hinder college students' lifestyle behaviors, including physical activity, active transportation, and dietary behavior. A total of 37 college students took photos about neighborhood built and social environments that may affect their physical activity, dietary behavior, and active transportation, and shared their perceptions about how neighborhood built and social environments influence their lifestyle behaviors. Our findings demonstrated that the availability and accessibility of services, school facilities, and home facilities affected physical activity and dietary behaviors among college students. Moreover, the well-developed transportation facilities and networks benefit college students' active transportation. Environments-based interventions are recommended in future research to better understand the associations between neighborhood built and social environments and lifestyle behaviors in college students.

Lifestyle habits among Najran University students, Najran, Saudi Arabia

Background

Unhealthy lifestyles have been linked to increased cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases. University students have been reported to adopt unhealthy lifestyles and undesirable eating choices.

Objectives

The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of healthy eating habits; determine the prevalence of physical activity habits; to estimate the smoking habits among male health sciences college students at Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia.

Methods

The present questionnaire-based descriptive cross-sectional study (convenient sample) was carried out among undergraduate male students enrolled in the health sciences colleges at Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia, from 1st May to 31st May, 2019. Around 500 students were recruited and were requested to answer a self-administered questionnaire about eating habits, physical activity, and tobacco smoking habits. Descriptive results were summarized in percentage and frequency. Cross tabulation using chi-square test was performed to measure the impact of demographic variable on eating pattern, physical activity and smoking behavior. Pearson's correlation was done using two tailed tests to determine the type of relationship between different variables. The SPSS (version 26) was used to perform statistical analysis.

Results

A total of 454 complete responses from the male students from Najran University were obtained. The majority (74%) were aged 21 years and above, unmarried (94.9%), had healthy BMI (47.4%), and suffered mild (41.4%) to moderate (32.4%) levels of stress during the previous month. The study findings showed a low daily frequency of consumption of vegetables and fruits. There was a low prevalence of daily consumption of vegetables (16%) and fruits (9%). More than 10% of all students reported no consumption of fruits and vegetables. Students who felt severely stressed during the previous month were significantly not eating any vegetables (p = 0.022) and fruits (p < 0.001), and had high salt intake (p = 0.045). Married participants had a significantly (p = 0.03) higher servings of vegetables per day. Furthermore, 32.15% of participants were not practicing 30 min of physical activity 5 days per week. The study showed a low prevalence (47.57%) of physical activity among the participants. However, none of the participants' variables were significantly associated with routine physical activity. In addition, the study showed a relatively high prevalence of smoking (25.77%) among Najran university male students. The participants' age (p 0.01), overall health (p = 0.02) and level of stress (p = 0.001) experienced during the last month were significantly associated with the length of exposure to secondhand smoke. Whereas, smoking any kind of tobacco daily (25.77%) was significantly (p = 0.005) related to the age of participants. A high number of participants aged 21 years and above (52.72%) were significantly (p = 0.019) exposed to secondhand smoke.

Conclusion

To conclude, the study findings showed a low daily frequency of consumption of vegetables and fruits, a relatively high prevalence of smoking and a low level of awareness regarding the health risks of smoking; and a large number of participants were physically inactive among male university students. Intervention programs in university students should concentrate on improving nutrition attitudes and knowledge toward good diet, tobacco-smoking cessation strategies, and structured intervention programs to encourage physical activity. However, these interventions should be pilot-tested for feasibility and acceptability before implementation.

Physical activity-related injuries among university students: a multicentre cross-sectional study in China

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics and preliminarily explore possible risk factors of physical activity-related injury (PARI) occurrences among Chinese university students via a multicentre mixed survey.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 4758 undergraduates graded 1-3 in nine universities in three Chinese cities were enrolled via cluster random sampling and completed the self-administered online questionnaires during March and April 2017.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

PARI in the past 12 months.

RESULTS

Of the 4758 participants, 1081 sustained PARI in the past 12 months, with an overall PARI incidence rate of 22.7% (27.3% (367/1343) in males and 20.9%(714/3415) in females). Around one-quarter of the injured (26.4%) suffered from PARI over at least three episodes. More than half of the injured subjects experienced physical activity (PA) absenteeism and sought medical attention. All PA indicators were significantly and positively associated with PARI, with a frequency of sports and leisure-time vigorous-intensity PA (VPA) participation being the strongest (adjusted OR: 1.079, 95% CI: 1.018 to 1.144). Moreover, males (OR=1.199), Shantou students (OR=4.239), year 1 students (OR=1.287), university and other sports team members (OR=1.717-2.360) and those with insufficient sleep time (OR=1.262-1.333) were also at a higher risk of PARI.

CONCLUSIONS

PARI is prevalent among university students in China. The frequency of sports and leisure-time VPA participation was most strongly associated with PARI among all PA indicators. These data can inform future programmes for injury intervention among university students. Safety issues should also be emphasised when promoting PA among the public to reduce PARI.

Physical activity and park use of youth in Nanchang, China

Physical inactivity is a growing issue in Chinese youth, but parks can facilitate traditional and non-traditional forms of physical activity for little to no cost. Despite this opportunity, very little is known regarding park use among Chinese youth. The purpose of this study was to conduct a cross-sectional observational study of park usage and physical activity of youth in municipal parks in Nanchang, China. Data were collected in June of 2014 in eight parks across Nanchang, Jiangxi a large city in southeast China. Physical activity was measured by a modified version of System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities. Ordered hierarchic generalized linear models were estimated using a logit link function. The influence of the park was estimated using random effects, with fixed effects and park, environmental, and park user characteristics. Youth were most often seen active in the afternoon, on weekends, and during cooler times (≤ 29 °C). Paradoxically, more children were active when air quality was poorer. Older boys were more active than younger boys, but no differences were observed in girls. More children were seen active in unstructured play compared to structured activities. The results suggest parks are an important setting for physical activity among Chinese youth, and that unstructured activities can play an important role in promoting greater youth physical activity.

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Chinese youth were most often seen engaging in physical activity in the afternoon, on weekends, and during cooler times (< 29 °C).

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Paradoxically, more Chinese youth were physically active when air quality was poorer.

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More Chinese youth were seen physically active in unstructured play compared to structured activities.

Role of Leisure Time Physical Activity in Cancer Prevention: Awareness and Practice among Medical Students at Cairo University

Background: Physical inactivity is accountable for a sizable proportion of breast and colorectal cancers and other non-communicable diseases. The higher the individual’s awareness about the protective role of physical activity (PA) in reducing chronic disease, the greater the adoption of PA will be. Objectives: To determine the level of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and awareness towards the role of LTPA in cancer prevention among a sample of Medical students at Cairo University, Egypt. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study, with multistage sampling (a total of 519 students from second to six year students) and a self administered questionnaire covering the study objectives. Results: A significant decrease in the actual?? level of LTPA was noted with students’ year of enrollment at the medical school. However, their knowledge about roles of PA in preventing coronary heart, elevated blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol exceeded 80%, with steady increase in relation to the year of enrolment from the second to 6th years. Their knowledge about PA preventive influence for cancer was low irrespective of the year enrolment (32.2% for prevention of colon and 16.2% for breast cancers). The main sources of knowledge about the role of PA in cancer prevention were the internet and media (77%). Conclusion: The students demonstrated a decline in their LTPA coupled with poor knowledge about the role of LTPA in cancer prevention. Revision of the current curricula should be considered with inclusion of more information on the role of LTPA in cancer prevention to facilitate better awareness of medical students and through them their future patients.

Understanding Walking Behavior among University Students Using Theory of Planned Behavior

Walking has been shown to improve physical and mental well-being, yet insufficient walking among university students has been increasingly reported. This study aimed to understand walking behavior of university students using theory of planned behavior (TPB). We recruited 169 undergraduate students by university mass email of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and first administered a salient belief elicitation survey, which was used to design the TPB questionnaire, to a subset of the study sample. Secondly, all participants completed the TPB questionnaire and walking-oriented diary in a two-day period in December 2012. We mapped the walking behavior data obtained from the diary using geographic information system, and examined the extent to which TPB constructs explained walking intentions and walking behavior using Structural equation model (SEM). We found perceived behavioral control to be the key determinant of walking intention. Shaped by participants’ perceived behavioral control, attitude toward walking and subjective norms, and behavioral intention, in turn had a moderate explanatory effect on their walking behavior. In summary, our findings suggest that walking behavior among university students can be understood within the TPB framework, and could inform walking promotion interventions on the university campuses.

Etiology of Obesity Over the Life Span: Ecological and Genetic Highlights from Asian Countries

Obesity is a worldwide pandemic, and the prevalence rate has doubled since the 1980s. Asian countries are also experiencing the global epidemic of obesity with its related health consequences. The prevalence of overweight and obesity are increasing at an alarming rate across all age groups in Asia. These increases are mainly attributed to rapid economic growth, which leads to socio-economic, nutrition and lifestyle transitions, resulting in a positive energy balance. In addition, fat mass and obesity-associated gene variants, copy number variants in chromosomes and epigenetic modifications have shown positive associations with the risk of obesity among Asians. In this review highlights of prevalence and related ecological and genetic factors that could influence the rapid rise in obesity among Asian populations are discussed.

Knowledge of colorectal cancer screening among young Malaysians

The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and associated factors regarding colorectal cancer screening among university students in Malaysia. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle practice and knowledge of colorectal screening. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 students (21.3±1.4 years old). The majority of the participants were Malay with a monthly family income of less than 5,000 Ringgit Malaysia (equal to 1,700 USD) (67.0% and 76.0%, respectively). Regarding their lifestyle practices, the majority were non-smokers and had never consumed alcohol (83.7%, and 88.0%, respectively). The majority of the participants had no knowledge of digital rectal examination, colonoscopy, barium enema and fecal occult blood screening (63.3%, 60.7%, 74.0% and 62.3%, respectively). Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that their age and the discipline which the students were studying significantly influenced their level of knowledge about colorectal screening. The present study results indicate that education campaigns about colorectal cancer should be promoted.