Week 4

Question 1

Define Physical Activity

Answer 1

Any voluntary bodily movement produced by the skeletal muscles that require energy expenditure

Question 2

What is the difference between being Sedentary and being Physically Inactive?

Answer 2

Sedentary behaviour refers to any waking behaviour characterised by an energy expenditure ≤1.5 METs while sitting or in a lying posture.
Whilst physical inactivity refers to people who do not get the recommended level of regular physical activity.

Question 3

What things do we need to take into consideration when deciding what to use to measure physical activity?

Answer 3

• What do you want to measure?
• Over what time period?
• How accurate does it need to be?
• How many people?
• Cost
• Time burden

Question 4

How do we measure for evaluation?

Answer 4

• Judge the value of an activity/programme
• Assess effectiveness
• Examine if an activity has achieved its objectives
• Find out the processes by which success or failure of a programme has happened

Question 5

What are Subjective Methods?

Answer 5

• Measure what people say about their physical activity and sedentary behaviour
• Capture some similar metrics to objective methods and can also tell us about the context in which the activity is performed e.g. sitting while at work or at home
• Example is a self-report

Question 6

What are Objective Methods?

Answer 6

• Directly assess one or more dimensions of physical activity e.g. frequency, intensity, time, type
• Capture a variety of metrics such as number of steps, minutes of activity, intensity of activity, and bouts of activity
• Example is a device measuring physical activity

Question 7

What does an Accelerometer measure?

Answer 7

Measures light-intensity physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

Question 8

What are 3 limitations of Accelerometers?

Answer 8

• Cannot assess energy expenditure related to more stationary activities such as cycling or resistance training
• Cannot account for the excess energy expenditure related to incline, load bearing, or uneven surface locomotion
• Some models are not waterproof or validated for assessing water-based activities

Question 9

What is the IPAQ Short Form and what does it measure?

Answer 9

• Stands for: International Physical Activity Questionnaire
• IPAQ SF assess walking, moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity activity
• Calculated in MET-minutes [MET=Metabolic equivalent; measure of how hard the body is working)

Question 10

What are the standard METs for IPAQ calculations?

Answer 10

Walking = 3.3
Moderate-intensity activity = 4.0
Vigorous = 8.0
[1 MET = 3.5ml of 02 consumed per kg bodyweight per minute (mL/kg/min)]

Question 11

What are 4 limitations of Self-report?

Answer 11

1. Problems with recall
2. Social desirability
3. Over estimation
4. Accuracy

Question 12

What are cross-sectional studies?

Answer 12

Data collected from a population group at one specific time point - the relationships between these measures are evaluated

Question 13

What are cohort studies?

Answer 13

• Disease/wellbeing/mortality in a selected population group is monitored over years
• Physical activity and sedentary behaviour measured at baseline or changes in these measures over years
• The relationship of physical activity and sedentary behaviour with health is evaluated