Different physical activity guidelines and its association with socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics among working women

Abstract

Background Physical activity, supporting health, wellbeing and working ability, is not only vitally important for healthy people, but also necessary for workers, especially women. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between meeting different physical activity guidelines and socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics in middle-aged females from Turkey. Material/Methods Physical activity was assessed using the Sense Wear Armband. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between socio-demographic and anthropometric criteria and the odds of meeting different physical activity guidelines. Results All females achieved >= 150 min/week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. With regard to vigorous physical activity, only 5% of women achieved >= 75 min/week. Among all studied socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics only the waist-to-hip rate and income differentiated odds for meeting the World Health Organization criterion. Conclusions Different percentages of subjects fulfill the pro-health criteria depending on the norm considered. We do need to identify the best criteria of PA to meet adequate health. It is crucial to take into account time, frequency and intensity of aerobic efforts but also in relation to energy expenditure related to resistance (anaerobic) and flexibility efforts while formulating physical activity guidelines.