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Essay on acting on the national physical activity guidelines

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Acting on the National Physical Activity Guidelines

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to identify if presenting a sedentary individual with the Australian governments National Physical Activity Guidelines (NPAG) would improve their overall physical activity. There was a structured interview which was conducted at 2 week intervals. The interview assessed the subject current physical activity levels and their willingness to be able to incorporate physical activity into there daily lives while following the guidelines suggested. The NPAG guidelines were presented before each interview and explained to the subject. Additional surveys were conducted to evaluate the subject’s anxiety levels and self-efficacy. Throughout the study we …show more content…

After the 14 day period, the second structured interview was administered (see appendix). The subject was asked to be as honest as possible and not try and respond to this survey by memory. The self-efficacy and proactive attitude surveys were also re-administered.
After collaboration of the results, it became increasingly evident that the subject did not adhere to the guidelines and had no hope in changing her behavior. Based on these findings a third questionnaire was conducted. This Social Physique Anxiety Questionnaire was administered, again over the phone. The survey was conducted to see if self-esteem, body image and social pressures were a factor for her none compliance.

Results

The physical activity guidelines chosen by the subject were:

1) Think of movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience
2) Be active every day in as many ways as you can
3) Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days.

The following tables present the data obtained from the 2 structured interviews.

Table 1: Total Time Spent in Inactive Recreation

Total hours Mon-Fri
Survey 1 Total hours
Mon-Fri
Survey 2 Total hours
Sat & Sun
Survey 1

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