Leisure-time physical activity and related lifestyle characteristics among middle-aged Japanese. Japan Lifestyle Monitoring Study Group.

The present study describes leisure-time physical activity status and related lifestyle factors in middle-aged Japanese. Data were obtained from 1,893 (905 men, 988 women) participants aged 40-69 years who had either been selected from a public registry or who had visited a healthcare facility. Subjects responded to a self-administered questionnaire and were interviewed using an assessment method for leisure-time and on-the-job physical activity within the last 12 months by trained interviewers. According to the leisure-time physical activity score, men and urban residents tended to engage in more leisure-time physical activity than did women and rural residents, respectively. Leisure-time physical activity tended to be inversely associated with on-the-job physical activity in all cases aside from women in urban regions, and also to be associated with higher levels of education in rural regions. Subjects engaging in more leisure-time physical activity had higher odds ratios of certain lifestyle factors, indicating a healthy lifestyle that included a variety of foods in their diet and a subjective sense of wellness in both men and women, in addition to non-smoking and drinking milk in men. These results suggested that leisure-time physical activity is influenced by socio-environmental factors, and that it is accompanied by other healthy behavior.