As a "neat freak" research presented last week at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (6/2/2010; Baltimore, MD) made me smile.
Researchers in the physical education department at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis set out to determine the major factor(s) affecting physical activity levels of almost 1,000 residents of St. Louis, aged 49-65, who were participants of the African American Health longitudinal study. Measures included: neighborhood desirability, measured with a self report of the neighborhood as a place to live, general feelings, attachment, and safety from crime; interviewer block face assessments of the streets, yards, sidewalks, noise, air quality and condition of other houses and buildings in the neighborhood; and interviewer in-home assessments that rated furnishings, cleanliness of the dwelling interior, physical conditions of the interior of the home, condition of the outside of the dwelling, and a global rating of the dwelling. These factors were then compared to physical activity levels assessed with an adjusted Yale Physical Activity Scale. Unexpectedly, increased physical activity was only associated with interviewer global ratings of the dwelling and ratings of the condition of houses and other buildings in the neighborhood.
So what is the connection between a clean home and increased physical activity? Here are three possibilities:
1. A clean home drives physical activity.
2. People with a clean home spend time dusting, mopping, and doing in-home maintenance, which increases their time spent being active.
3. People who take care of their homes are the same people that take care of their bodies.
What do you think? If #2, then maybe we should focus less attention on the "built environment" like improving sidewalks, lighting, and other outside environmental factors, and more on helping people increase physical activity inside their homes including things like vigorous sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming. The Cooper Institute is a long-time believer in (and has done quite a bit of research on) lifestyle physical activity, which includes things like cleaning house, shoveling snow, planting flowers, and raking leaves. These activities can be moderate-to-vigorous in intensity when done with vigor; can be fun; and can create a sense of accomplishment when completed.
Share your thoughts on this research as well as lifestyle physical activity. Do you see the value of promoting lifestyle activities as a means toward achieving the recommended 150-minutes a week of moderate-intensity or 75-minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity?
NiCole R. Keith, FACSM, Daniel O. Clark, Douglas K. Miller. Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity in Middle-Aged, Urban Dwelling African Americans. 2010 American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD. June 2, 2010.
2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
