Institute of Sport Science, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences, University of Hawai'i, Hilo, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2018 Mar 20;18(1):377. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5283-2.
This field study aims to investigate the determinants of physical activity of particularly active and inactive groups in their leisure environments. In order to consider the context in which physical activity occurs and to investigate whether cultural settings may influence physical activity, we conducted the study at pools in different cultural environments - Hawai'i and Germany.
This study presents the quantitative data of a systematic (covert) participant observation. We recorded the physical activity of face-to-face interacting groups and analysed categories such as group size, estimated age of the group members, and verbal communication patterns. Total observation period was eight and a half months. In total, we observed 907 groups with the groups' size varying between 2 and 8 members. For the general statistics, we accessed the significance of differences regarding the degree of physical activity dependent on the target variables. To better understand activity promoting and hindering mechanisms, special attention is given to the identification of contrasting factors that characterise groups which are very active or very inactive. For this, we conducted a classification tree analysis.
General statistical analysis shows that, overall, the most differentiating factor regarding physical activity was the body shape of the group members. While obese groups had the lowest average activity level, groups mainly consisting of people with an athletic body shape were the most physically active. Yet, classification tree analysis reveals that obesity itself does not necessarily determine physical inactivity levels. The identification of six contrasting clusters highlights that besides the body shape several factors interact regarding a group's physical level. Such interacting factors were for example the degree of communication within the group, the gender- and age-related composition of the group, but also the equipment that had been brought to the beach/pool. Obese people were particularly inactive when they were members of frequently communicating, age-heterogeneous groups.
Our study shows that several social factors determine the physical activity of very active and very inactive groups. In order to promote physical activity, future health initiatives should target these factors of a person's network.
本现场研究旨在调查特定活跃和不活跃群体在其休闲环境中进行身体活动的决定因素。为了考虑身体活动发生的背景，并研究文化环境是否会影响身体活动，我们在不同文化环境中的游泳池中进行了研究 - 夏威夷和德国。
本研究呈现了系统（隐蔽）参与式观察的定量数据。我们记录了面对面互动群体的身体活动，并分析了群体规模、群体成员估计年龄和言语交流模式等类别。总观察期为八个半月。我们总共观察了 907 个群体，群体规模从 2 到 8 人不等。对于一般统计，我们访问了与目标变量相关的身体活动程度的差异的显著性。为了更好地理解促进和阻碍活动的机制，特别关注识别特征是非常活跃或非常不活跃的群体的对比因素。为此，我们进行了分类树分析。
一般统计分析表明，总体而言，身体活动最具区分性的因素是群体成员的体型。虽然肥胖群体的平均活动水平最低，但主要由身体健壮的人组成的群体的身体活动最活跃。然而，分类树分析表明肥胖本身并不一定决定身体不活动水平。六个对比聚类的识别突出表明，除了体型外，几个因素相互作用，涉及群体的身体水平。这些相互作用的因素例如群体内的沟通程度、群体的性别和年龄构成，但也包括带到海滩/游泳池的设备。肥胖者在经常交流、年龄多样的群体中时特别不活跃。
我们的研究表明，有几个社会因素决定了非常活跃和非常不活跃群体的身体活动。为了促进身体活动，未来的健康倡议应该针对这些人的社交网络因素。
