Citation

Siegel PZ, Brackbill RM, Heath GW. Am. J. Public Health 1995; 85(5): 706-710.

Affiliation

Office of Surveillance and Analysis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, American Public Health Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7733433

PMCID

PMC1615430

Abstract

The relative contribution of walking to overall leisure-time physical activity participation rates was studied among respondents from the 45 states that participated in the 1990 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 81,557). The percentages of low income, unemployed, and obese persons who engaged in leisure-time physical activity (range = 51.1% to 57.7%) were substantially lower than the percentage among the total adult population (70.3%). In contrast, the prevalence of walking for exercise among these sedentary groups (range = 32.5% to 35.9%) was similar to that among the total population (35.6%). Walking appears to be an acceptable, accessible exercise activity, especially among population subgroups with a low prevalence of leisure-time physical activity.

Language: en