unit 2 out 2

Question 1

1. List examples of and explain what is meant by the subjective & objective measures of PA?

Answer 1

Subjective measures: assessments of physical activity that rely on a person remembering which activities they participated in, or their perception of the intensity of an activity session. E.g. Self-report measures – completed by subjects, involve some bias, include both self-administered and interviewer-administered recalls through interviews, questionnaires, diaries or logs. E.g. Proxy-report measures – involve an individual reporting on behalf of someone else.
Objective measures: physical activity assessments using either direct observation or a device. Direct observation – involves watching people’s behaviours within specific settings and recording activities and events of interest. E.g. pedometer – observing how many steps an individual has taken throughout the day or week, Garmin, Fitness Watch

Question 2

2. What sort of tools are used to assess the population and record PA across different settings?

Answer 2

The Children’s Leisure Activities Study Survey (CLASS): a self-report for children over 10 years and a proxy-report questionnaire completed by parents for children 10 years and under. It assesses all dimensions of physical activity (including type, frequency, intensity and duration) performed during a typical week of a school term.
Subjective and objective measures – self-report, proxy-report, pedometers, diaries

Question 3

3. What are the most common PA participated in for Adults, Children and the elderly?

Answer 3

Adults: walking, going to the gym, jogging, swimming and cycling
Children: swimming, soccer, cycling, athletics/track and field, basketball, dancing, cricket, netball
Elderly: water aerobics, walking, golf, lawn bowls

Question 4

4. What proportion of Australians are very inactive or complete no PA?

Answer 4

1 in 5 Australian adults exercise at very low levels, or not at all.

Question 5

5. What is meant by the term self-efficacy and give an example?

Answer 5

Self-efficacy: confidence in your ability to be active within specific circumstances
e.g. even when you are tired,

Question 6

6. What is the most common barrier towards participation in PA?

Answer 6

• Lack of time

Question 7

7. Define with an example reciprocal causation

Answer 7

Reciprocal causation: the interaction between the individual and the environment.
e.g. if you live near the ocean then you are more likely to surf.

Question 8

8. When is a proxy report best suited for which demographic of the population?

Answer 8

Proxy reports are completed for someone who is unable to self-report in a reliable and accurate (valid) manner.
May be completed for a child by a parent, guardian or teacher. A carer may complete a proxy report on behalf of an elderly person or a person with an intellectual disability.

Question 9

9. What is the name of a method to target a change in policy, environment or organisation?

Answer 9

Intervention strategy: method or approach to target a change in policy, environment or organisation.

Question 10

10. List examples of population-level strategies that promote PA.

Answer 10

Environmental strategies and tailoring:
Physical activity intervention programs should be tailored to settings.
e.g. installing bicycle racks may promote cycling to school in a rural area, but may be impractical in a suburban are with limited bike paths and heavy traffic.
- Removing impediments to activity: remove barriers to people being active, e.g. heavy traffic and ‘stranger danger’ or other street crime. Environmental changes, such as the installation of speed humps and reduced speed limits near school zones, can significantly reduce the volume and speed of the traffic, increasing safety for pedestrians and cyclist.
- Introducing new resources and facilities: other environmental interventions aim to provide resources that facilitate activity, such as:
• Installing showers in the workplace
• Providing footpaths and bike trails in the community
• Installing a new or upgraded playground in a local park or school
Education programs: environmental interventions should precede education programs. E.g. a media campaign encouraging people to walk in their neighbourhood will not have much impact in an area where footpaths are poorly maintained and drug deals take place in the park. Instead of a media campaign, the priority in this neighbourhood would be to reduce crime and provide a safe recreational environment for people to be active in. Only then can an educational program successfully encourage people to walk in their neighbourhood.
Environmental and policy targets for physical activity interventions: natural environment (e.g. weather, geography), constructed (built) environment factors (e.g. information environment, suburban environments, buildings, work environments, entertainment infrastructure, transport infrastructure, recreational infrastructure), policies related to incentives, policies related to resources and infrastructure.
Policy: may be defined as laws, regulations, formal rules, informal rules or understandings that are adopted on a collective basis to guide individual and population-wide behaviour. There are many policies that affect people’s opportunity’s to be physically active; these policies can act as either enablers or barriers.
- Legislation: refers to formal, documented policies that are often governed by law-enforcement agencies and organisations. E.g. having to wear a seatbelt.
- Organisational policies: designed to establish an appropriate behaviour within a particular organisation. E.g. many primary schools have a SunSmart policy that prevents children playing outside unless they are wearing a hat. When you critique strategies used at the population level to promote physical activity think about: tailoring, removal of impediments, resources and facilities, educational programs and policies to support environmental change.
Mass media: aim to reach groups of individuals using a medium other than personal
contact or face-to-face meetings. E.g. online advertising, pop-ups, social media, websites, television and radio broadcast and advertisements, billboards, posters and commercials at cinemas, print media such as newspapers, magazines and brochures, web-based interactive information. Main benefit is the potential to reach large numbers of people at a lower cost per person than individual approaches, raise awareness and increase motivation.
- The roles of mass media: increasing awareness of physical activity as a public health issue, providing information about the health benefits associated with regular physical activity, providing information about other non-health benefits of being active, providing information about the consequences of inactivity.

Question 11

11. List examples of individual level strategies that promote PA.

Answer 11

Print and web-based media: include booklets, brochures, handouts and websites. Print materials are available from: community-based recreational centres (e.g. sporting clubs), healthcare providers such as medical practices, rehabilitation centres (e.g. physiotherapy), hospitals and chemists, schools and workplaces, government, industry and commercial websites.
Counselling: gives advice about being physically active can be provided by a personal trainer, general practitioner (GP).

Question 12

12. Which are the best measurement tools used to record the amount of sedentary behaviour that a person undertakes?

Answer 12

• Diaries
• Accelerometers
• Self- or proxy-report recall surveys
• Direct observation
• Inclinometers

Question 13

13. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both objective & subjective measures of assessment of PA. eg. Pedometers vs recall surveys vs SOPLAY etc

Answer 13

Advantage subjective:
- Can capture quantitative and qualitative information
- Can be administrated for large- scale studies
- Usually low burden on participants
Disadvantage subjective:
- Not suitable for assessing children under age 10 or very old adults
- Reliability and validity problems associated with over- reporting due to social desirability bias, memory limitations or misinterpretations of physical activity in different populations
Positive objective:
- Captures excellent quantitative and qualitative information
- Computer software makes data collection and analysis simpler than in the past
- Not subject to bias
- Pedometers
- Inexpensive
- Non- invasive
- Easy to administer to large groups
Negative objective:
- Possibility to tamper with results
- Some accuracy loss
- SOPLAY
- Measures physical activity in groups of people
- Uses time- sampling techniques
- Scans individual and contextual factors

Question 14

14. Name some social environment strategies that can be implemented in schools, the workplace and the community.

Answer 14

• Walking paths – walk to school day, ride to work.

Question 15

15. Know statistical trends for participation in PA by gender over the years ie 15-17’s - 65+ for both genders.

Answer 15

2-4 years old:
- Averaged 6.2 hours per day in pa
- 47% of pa form outside activities
- QLD and NT spent more time outdoors (3 hours 27 minutes and 4 hours respectively, compared to the national average of 3 hours)
- 72% were physically active for 3 hours per day on all 7 days prior to interview, therefore meeting the pa guidelines.
5-17 year olds:
- Averaged 1.5 hours (91 minutes) per day in pa.
- Just over 60% averaged at least 60 minutes per day
- 1 in 5 (19%) doing recommended 60 minutes per day across all 7 days prior to interview
- Almost half (48%) met the recommended 60 minutes per day on at least 5 out of the 7 days
18+ year olds:
- Averaged 33 minutes per day of pa
- 60% reported doing less than 30 minutes
- Fewer than 20% did 60+ minutes per day on average
- 43% met the ‘sufficiently active’ target (59% males and 48% females)
- 18-24 year olds were the most active (males averaged 46 minutes and females 32 minutes per day)
- Levels generally declined with increasing age
- Only 33% of males and 20% of women over 75 years were sufficiently active.

Question 16

16. What are the PA that are common for males and females? Explain any differences.

Answer 16

Females:
-	Yoga 
-	Pilates
-	Netball
Males:
-	AFL
-	Cricket
-	Soccer
-	Golf
Both:
-	Walking for exercise
-	Fitness/gym
-	Swimming/diving

Question 17

17. Using examples summarise how each of the social cultural factors influence participation in PA: Historical influences, Social influences, Cultural influences, Environmental influences.

Answer 17

Historical influences: influenced the image of the bronzed Aussie and stereotypical ‘sports-mad Australian’. Many events in Australia’s short history have influenced the national identity. Australia has experienced success in many different sports and competitions, both locally and on the world stage. E.g. team sports, individual pursuits and Olympic competition. Participation in physical activity has changed dramatically in Australia over the last 50 years. Society has gone from being generally physically active to one that is predominantly sedentary.
Social influences: supportive behaviours, social climate and culture. Refer to the people around you. e.g. if parents positively enforce children to complete pa then they are more likely to.
Cultural influences: culturally and linguistically diverse population groups are less likely to participate in sufficient physical activity to provide health benefits. People from non-English speaking backgrounds are at a higher risk of being inactive. Certain cultural expectations, obligations and religious beliefs can also restrict opportunities to be physically active. E.g. Australians migrants have introduced soccer into the society.
Environmental factors: studies have shown that accessibility to facilities, opportunities for activity, aesthetics and, to a lesser extent, safety and weather, all influence physical activity behaviour. Natural environment includes features such as water, trees, grasslands and bushlands. These places provide aesthetically pleasing environments in which to be active.

Question 18

18. What is one individual factor that would negatively influence participation in PA - explain using an example.

Answer 18

Socioeconomic status: affects level of education, household income, workforce participation and area of residence. All these factors impact participation rates. Men and women from low socioeconomic groups have lower rates of participation in physical activity. The impact of lower levels of education, lower household income and area of residence is that people in this group, particularly women, participate in insufficient physical activity to benefit their health.

Question 19

19. What is meant by the term Reactivity and when may it occur when using measurement tools?

Answer 19

Reactivity: when individuals alter their behaviour because they are aware of being observed.
e.g. a participant may run faster at certain points in a race if they are running past a check point person to impress them, this may alter their average speed per km.

Question 20

20. Describe the Fair go, Sport Project funded by the Aus Sports Commission.

Answer 20

Target group: same-sex and gender-diverse groups
Description: research shows sport is a significant site of homophobic harassment, discrimination and exclusion. The Australian Sports Commission funded Fair go, sport! In 2010. The project aimed to:
- Increase awareness of sexual and gender diversity
- Promote safe and inclusive environments
- Develop a flexible model of engagement that can be adapted for other sporting codes and their governing bodies.
Strategies: the project included four components-
- Development of a peer mentoring approach to support project advocates.
- Work with state sporting associations (hockey, basketball, cycling, football and Skate Victoria/Roller Derby)
- Implementation of Fair go, sport! Model in schools
- Development of strategies for inclusion in school sport.

Question 21

21. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using wearable devices for measuring PA?

Answer 21

Advantages:
- Inexpensive
- Small, lightweight and non-invasive
- Easy to administer to large groups
- Useful for detecting change (between pre- and post-tests) in the daily average number of steps taken, or to identify changes in rank order among groups.
- Objectively measures are the most common physical activity behaviour (walking)
- Appropriate for use in a range of settings (workplaces, the community and schools)
- Provides immediate feedback and has the potential to promote behaviour change.
Disadvantages:
- Assesses only one type of physical activity behaviour (walking or running)
- Cannot record and store data in real time
- Unable to record the magnitude of movement detected (a step is recorded regardless of the intensity or mode during walking, running or jumping)
- Provides no information about frequency, intensity or duration of physical activity
- Not an appropriate choice for comparing children with different levels of physical maturity because of the influence of body size and speed of locomotion on step count.
- Although it can provide estimates of energy expenditure, these are based on studies of adults and are not accurate for children.

Question 22

22. What are non-modifiable and modifiable individual influences on PA activity behaviours?

Answer 22

Modifiable: at an individual level, these factors include; socioeconomic status (ses), level of education, self-efficacy and other cognitive variables. Can be changed
Non-modifiable: cannot be changed, include; age, sex, ethnicity or cultural background and genetic or inherited factors.

Question 23

23. What are the main purposes for measuring PA at an individual level and a population level?

Answer 23

Individual level:
- To detect change in an individual’s health and/or behaviour
- To determine the effect of any change in physical activity behaviour
Population level:
- To document the frequency and distribution of physical activity in defined population groups
- To monitor the achievement of physical activity guidelines and population trends over time
- To study the relationship between physical activity and health conditions (cvd, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer and mental health)
- To determine the amount or dose of physical activity required to influence specific health parameters
- To identify the biological, psychological and environmental factors that influence physical activity
- To evaluate the effectiveness of large-scale physical activity intervention programs

Question 24

24. When collecting data on PA why is it important to gather information on Frequency, intensity and duration?

Answer 24

Due to them being the dimensions of physical activity and demonstrating how difficult an activity was to complete

Question 25

25. How can lack of time, skill & money be barriers to participate in PA and suggest ways we overcome them?

Answer 25

Lack of time: through many individuals working 9-5 full time jobs and raising a family may encounter o time to complete physical activity due to always having to do something and be somewhere. This can be overcome through getting an extra 15 mins in their lunch break, if they are a non-smoker to go to the gym and complete physical activity, such as completing a quick 30 min class or workout. This allows individuals to participate in physical activity daily and also be able to work and look after their family.
Skill: though not being able to complete workouts properly by not being able to complete actions could result in not completing physical activity at all due to not knowing how to. This can be overcome though investing in a personal trainer or class and viewing how to complete workouts and then being able to implement these motions themselves.
Money: can be a barrier with individuals not being able to afford the correct equipment to complete physical activity at home or buy a gym membership. This can be overcome with free facilities being offered to the public, such as at a park, allowing them to be physically active at no cost.

Question 26

26. Discuss positive cultural influences on Aus participation patterns from a migrant group

Answer 26

Chinese implementing Tai chi programs in Federation Square Melbourne, allows a vast majority of individuals both from and not from this culture to perform these physical activities. It allows individuals to experience new things whilst still completing physical activity.

Question 27

27. Identify examples of barriers due to geographic factors and discuss how it can make it difficult to participate in certain PA.

Answer 27

e.g. if the area you live in is particularly hilly (geography), this may influence your decision to ride to school or a friend’s house. If you live in a rural area (geographic location) that is some distance from the town, schools or shops, this may influence your access to sporting facilities.

Question 28

28. The ABS identified some common trends with PA in 13-14 year olds. What are they and why do you think they are occurring?

Answer 28

That as children begin to age in the 13-14-year-old category their physical activity drops off dramatically. This could be occurring to feeling as though they don’t have enough time and schooling pressure.

Question 29

29. Why is walking a popular PA for more females than males?

Answer 29

Due to being an easy and simple source of physical activity, it is also reliable and an activity that many already participate in everyday with thinking about it.

Question 30

30. What sports are popular for 15-24 year olds and 65+? Why are there differences between the age groups and explain the drop off with competitive sport?

Answer 30

15-24 year olds: walking, running, gym/fitness
65+ year olds: water aerobics, walking
Difference: 15-24 activities much more physically demanding than 65+

Question 31

31. Draw, label and explain each component of the social-ecological model.

Answer 31

Individual (intrapersonal) factors: these are individual characteristics, such as attitudes, behavioural skills e.g. goals setting, or fundamental motor skill confidence and knowledge (e.g. comprehending the benefits of being active).
Social environment (intrapersonal factors): this refers to the formal and informal social climate and support network and systems surrounding an individual (e.g. single or dual parents, siblings, extended family, peers). Supportive behaviours can be provided by primary groups, which include the family work group and friendship circle. Supportive behaviours include providing or sharing transport to sport or a park, encouraging someone to be active, offering to be active with someone, and helping to pay fees.
Physical environment: the physical environment plays a huge role in influencing physical activity behaviour. Natural environment relates to topography (mountains, coasts, bush), weather and climate, and features such as trees, water (beaches, rivers, lakes and creeks), grasslands and wildlife, which can create an attractive environment in which to be active. The built environment includes buildings, roads, public open spaces, public transport, parks, home and yard size, ovals, gymnasiums, court areas, fields, grandstands, changing facilities, pools, car parking. It also includes walking trails, boardwalks and cycling oaths. Many new housing estates build walking trails, cycling oaths, parklands and even water features to incorporate opportunities to be active.
Policy and organisational change: policies – laws, regulations, formal rules, informal rules or understandings that are adopted on a collected basis to guide individual and collective behaviour. Organisational factors – organisational characteristics of social institutions, including rules (formal and informal), regulations, guidelines and governance of operation.

Question 32

32. What is mean by the YPAP? Explain factors that influence PA in different parts of the model.

Answer 32

YPAP: developed to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Integrates a range of individual, social and environmental influences on children’s physical activity.
The YPAP categorises factors affecting physical activity among youth to three major components:
1. Predisposing factors: behaviour broken down into two questions:
- Am I able?
Relates to a child’s self-efficacy; their perceived competence. A belief in their ability to organise and execute the courses of activity required to achieve a given goal. Barriers to self-efficacy are ‘confidence in overcoming barriers’.
- Is it worth it?
Reflects a child’s enjoyment of an beliefs and attitudes towards being physically active.
The more these two questions interact, the more predisposed a child is.
2. Enabling factors:
- Environmental
Access to equipment, parks and programs. Does not correspond with use of these resources.
- Biological
Physical fitness and skills.
3. Reinforcing factors: support from significant others that encourage a child to be physically active (family, teachers, peers or a coach)
- Parental encouragement, barriers, social support and beliefs
- Friend and family social support
- PE teacher providing active opportunities.