This is an archive copy of a document originally located at http://www.nphp.gov.au/sigpah/gaa/index.htm. All copyright remains with the creator.
Young adulthood is a time when participation in physical activity declines, potentially setting up lifelong patterns of sedentariness. This chapter reviews the factors associated with maintenance of physically active lifestyles through this period, and identifies barriers to activity such as time constraints, and the presence of young children. Too few interventions with young adults have been conducted for the outcomes to form the basis of policy recommendations.
Although there has been some research into factors associated with physical activity among young adults, most of this has been conducted with tertiary education students. Australian studies such as that completed by Leslie et al. (1999) provide valuable insights into physical activity in this group. Their work, which was based on the Social Learning Model (Sallis and Hovell 1990), found that tertiary students who had high enjoyment of activity, high levels of social support and high self-efficacy, were more likely to be sufficiently active for health benefit (Leslie et al.1999).
While studies such as this extend previous work that has tended to focus on the influence of personal attributes such as knowledge, attitudes and beliefs towards physical activity (King et al. 1992), they do not develop our understanding of the longer-term maintenance of physical activity after tertiary education.
There is evidence to suggest that physical activity is 'displaced' in the lives of young adult Australians by more sedentary activities such as computer use and television viewing (Fotheringham et al. 2000). It is noteworthy that a large decline in physical activity occurs at the same time as many young people change their living arrangements: moving from the family home to 'flat-share' living and 'couple' relationships (Brown et al. 1998). The average age of Australian women having their first child is now 26.6 years (AIHW 1999). The demands of parenthood, often coupled with the establishment of a working career for one or both partners, mean that this is likely to be a time of great change in several health behaviours.
The data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health indicated that about 45 per cent of young women aged 18-22 lived at home with their parents, about 21 per cent lived in 'share' accommodation and another 22 per cent lived with a partner. Women who lived with a partner, particularly those with children, were more likely to report lower levels of physical activity (Brown et al. 1998).
Mothers of young children have recently been the focus of research attention in NSW. Qualitative work in Sydney has found that the main barriers to participation for mothers of young children are:
These are the issues that constrain mothers of young children from participating in organised physical activity (Gould and Hoggard 1999, Lo Cascio et al. 1999). Work in progress with 545 mothers of young children in the Hunter region confirms that time is the biggest barrier to physical activity at this life stage. While having 'no time' has long been known to be a barrier to physical activity (Owen and Bauman 1992) the reasons that women give for having no time need to be elucidated carefully (such as commitments to small children, partners, paid and unpaid work; Brown et al. (in press) shed light on the difficulties faced by young mothers who try to fit 'organised' physical activity into their daily lives.
Additional work is now required with fathers, and others with social and family responsibilities, to assess the impact on individual participation in physical activity. Increases in working hours may have some effects on young adults of both genders, as may the increasing demands of part-time tertiary education.
In a recent review of physical activity intervention studies for young people (Stone et al. 1998), only two published studies targeting young adults (rather than adolescents) were identified. Both of these involved programs coordinated through tertiary-education settings; no community-based programs were identified in the published literature.
First, in the San Diego State University's 'Project GRAD' (Graduate Ready for Activity Daily; Calfas et al. 2000) 338 senior US college students were allocated randomly to a behaviour change intervention, or a general health, knowledge-oriented control group. The behavioural intervention, shaped by the Transtheoretical Model of behaviour change and delivered by physical education staff through a 15-week course of lectures and laboratory sessions, encouraged students to plan for structured, moderate activity; to increase and maintain their 'lifestyle' activity; and to incorporate muscle strengthening and flexibility exercises in their routine. The intervention had no immediate effects on physical activity patterns of men, and only modest effects among women. Behaviourally-oriented telephone and mail follow-up for 18 months after course completion also had little impact on physical activity outcomes at two-year follow-up for men or women.
Second, the quasi-experimental evaluation of the Deakin University ARTEC (Active Recreation on Tertiary Education Campuses) Project, aimed to increase on-campus and total physical activity amongst students attending an Australian University. The eight-week intervention program involved aerobics, weights, circuits, demonstrations, free fitness testing, free swimming vouchers, and campus media promotion (Leslie et al. 1999). The results showed an increase in the proportion of students reporting high levels of physical activity but there was no follow-up to assess maintenance of physical activity over time (Leslie et al. 2000).
Other physical activity intervention studies are in progress overseas. For example, Project TEAM (Teaching Exercise/Activity Maintenance), described in the review by Stone et al. (1998) is a quasi-experimental study involving 550 students attending a US college that was underpinned by Social Cognitive Theory and the Transtheoretical Model of behaviour change. Using skills training and self-monitoring strategies, the intervention aimed to increase total physical activity and cardiovascular fitness, and to enhance the maintenance of post-intervention levels of physical activity over time. The results of this study have not yet been published.
In Australia the ProActive Mums project is one of the few young adult physical activity intervention studies that have not focused on tertiary students. It is a randomised trial that involves evaluation of community action interventions based around child care centres in low, moderate and high socioeconomic areas (Brown et al. 2000)
There is little evidence on which to base interventions for increasing physical activity among young adults. Existing studies have been conducted with tertiary students but it has not been established that interventions during this life stage, (even if they are shown to be effective in changing behaviour) will have any long-term impact once these young adults move into the next stage of their lives. Further extensive research is required, especially with population samples of young adults, who are in the transition stage between the end of formal education and the establishment of careers and families. If interventions that promote the establishment of healthy behaviours can be developed for this life stage, there may be the potential to reduce the longterm risk of several of the major chronic illnesses later in life.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare National Perinatal Statistics Unit. (1999). Australia’s mothers and babies 1996. Perinatal Statistics Series, Number 7. Sydney: AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit.
Brown WJ, Ball K, Powers J. (1998). Is life a party for young women? ACHPER Healthy Lifestyles Journal 45 (6):21-6.
Brown PR, Brown WJ, Miller Y, et al. (In press). Perceived constraints and social support for active leisure among mothers with young children. Leisure Sciences.
Brown WJ, Miller Y, Brown PR, et al. (2000). Pro-active mums. Promoting physical activity among mothers with young children: barriers and strategies. Abstract for International Behavioural Medicine Congress, November.
Calfas KJ, Sallis JF, Nichols JF, et al. (2000). Project GRAD: two-year outcomes of a randomized controlled physical activity intervention among young adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 18(1):28-37.
Fotheringham MJ, Wonnacott RL, Owen N. (2000). Computer-use and physical inactivity in young adults: public health perils and potentials of new information technology. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 22:269-75.
Gould K, Hoggard L. (1999). Child care project - final report. Sydney: Vocational Education & Assessment Centre.
King AC, Blair SN, Bild DE, et al. (1992). Determinants of physical activity and interventions in adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 24(6):S221-36.
Leslie E, Fotheringham MJ, Veitch J, et al. (2000). A university campus physical activity promotion program. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 10:51-4.
Leslie E, Owen N, Sallis JF. (1999). Inactive Australian college students’ preferred activities, sources of assistance, and motivators. American Journal of Health Promotion 13(4):197-9.
Lo Cascio M, Thomas M, Connelly A, et al. (1999). Busy mums wanted: a qualitative study of mothers and physical activity. Sydney: Social Health Research Unit, Central Sydney Area Health Service.
Owen N, Bauman A. (1992). The descriptive epidemiology of a sedentary lifestyle in adult Australians. International Journal of Epidemiology 21:305-10.
Sallis JF. (2000). Age-related decline in physical activity: a synthesis of human and animal studies. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32:598-60.
Sallis JF, Hovell MF. (1990). Determinants of exercise behaviour. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews 18:307-30.
Stone EJ, McKenzie TL, Welk GJ, et al. (1998). Effects of physical activity interventions in youth - review and synthesis. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 15(4):298-315.
Next: Part 3 (cont.) - 3.4 Older people
Previous: Part 3 - 3.2 Children and adolescents
This is an archive copy of a document originally located at http://www.nphp.gov.au/sigpah/gaa/index.htm. All copyright remains with the creator.
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