A Survey of Social Support for Exercise and Its Relationship to Health Behaviours and Health Status Among Endurance Nordic Skiers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anderson PJ ; Beebe TJ ; Bovard RS ; Murad MH ; Wang Z
• Description:
  Objectives: Regular exercise is a key component of obesity prevention and 48% of Americans do not meet minimum guidelines for weekly exercise. Social support has been shown to help individuals start and maintain exercise programmes. We evaluated social support among endurance athletes and explored the relationship between social support for exercise, health behaviours and health status. Design: Survey. Setting: The largest Nordic ski race in North America. Participants: 5433 past participants responded to an online questionnaire. Outcome measures: Social support, health behaviours and health status. Results: The mean overall support score was 32.1 (SD=16.5; possible range=-16.0 to 88.0). The most common forms of social support were verbal such as discussing exercise, invitations to exercise and celebrating the enjoyment of exercise. We found that an increase of 10 points in the social support score was associated with a 5 min increase in weekly self-reported exercise (5.02, 95% CI 3.63 to 6.41). Conclusions: Physical activity recommendations should incorporate the importance of participation in group activities, especially those connected to strong fitness cultures created by community and competitive events. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Athletes Behavior Health Promotion Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Activity Levels Health Promotion Obesity Physical Exercise Physical Fitness
• ISSN:
  2044-6055
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  6
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064209
• Citation:
  BMJ Open 2016 Jun; 6(6):e010259
• Contact Point Address:
  Zhen Wang, Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
• Email:
  wang.zhen@mayo.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  BMJ Open
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c14046d726d81ae7752e9082b38d1a53d1cdcbc80232bea63bf3dc04a388a246d8c41400a3cb0ea86cdf7ce29a496d69e81301568892929ed4b6182d2cfe8474
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222714/cdc_222714_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 672.63 KB ]