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New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Behavior, Chronic Disease and Health Promotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 30552

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marta Leyton-Román

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Guest Editor

Department of Humanities, Sport Studies Center, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28032 Madrid, Spain
Interests: physical activity; sport; motivation; healthy lifestyles; psychological variables
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Ruth Jiménez-Castuera

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Guest Editor

Didactic and Behavioral Analysis in Sport Research Group, Faculty of Sport Science, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
Interests: motivation; psychosocial factors; healthy lifestyles; physical education; physical activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A healthy lifestyle involves the acquisition and maintenance of habits that promote people’s health, such as having appropriate eating habits (maintaining a balanced diet and respecting meal times), healthy resting habits, avoiding stress and the consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, in addition to the regular practice of physical activity. It is very important that adherence to habits that configure healthy lifestyles be adopted from an early age to avoid premature morbidity, as well as to alleviate other diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, type II diabetes, and even cancer.

The objective of this Special Issue is to present a collection of papers detailing the latest scientific advances regarding the importance of applying strategies in order to develop healthy lifestyles; the development of programs and measures to analyze lifestyles and carry out strategies to improve them; and the analysis of behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and biological aspects that determine the commitment to the variables that make up a healthy lifestyle. It is also important to study the role of social agents, such as the significant others of the subject (family, friends, teachers, and coaches) as well as the role that the media play in shaping the patterns of people’s lifestyles.

In order to highlight the importance of physical activity, which we consider to be one of the factors crucial to the development of healthy lifestyles as it is associated with positive behaviors that are part of such lifestyles, we are interested in research aimed at the analysis and development of strategies to encourage the practice of regular physical activity to support the promotion of healthy behavior patterns. In addition, we intend to publish studies that analyze and demonstrate the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in order to improve quality of life.

To this end, we welcome the submission of quantitative and qualitative, cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies that analyze the different factors that make up healthy lifestyles in different population groups, that is, from the youngest to the oldest.

Dr. Marta Leyton-Román
Dr. Ruth Jiménez-Castuera
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Physical activity
Eating habits
Resting habits
Tobacco consumption
Alcohol consumption
Drug consumption
Sedentary lifestyles
Adherence
Motivational processes
Health
Quality of life
Healthy lifestyle

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 832 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does Participating in Physical Exercise Make Chinese Residents Happier?—Empirical Research Based on 2018 Chinese General Social Survey

by Liluo Gan and Yumei Jiang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12732; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph191912732 - 05 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1407

Abstract

Participating in physical exercise to improve fitness, as well as experience the social and economic functions of sport, can help individuals improve their subjective well-being. The ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model was used to empirically study the impact of the frequency and intensity of physical exercise on Chinese residents’ subjective well-being and its mechanisms using data from the 2018 China General Social Survey (CGSS). The findings revealed that participating in physical exercise significantly increased Chinese residents’ subjective well-being; the impact of physical exercise on Chinese residents’ subjective well-being varied with age, marriage, political status, and so on, and participation in physical exercise improved in rural individuals, male individuals, and individuals from the eastern regions. Higher intensity physical exercise increases the likelihood of subjective well-being; urban individuals, female individuals, and individuals in the central and eastern regions have a higher probability of improving subjective well-being. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

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9 pages, 378 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Association between Lower-Body Strength, Health-Related Quality of Life, Depression Status and BMI in the Elderly Women with Depression

by Carmen Galán-Arroyo, Damián Pereira-Payo, Ángel Denche-Zamorano, Miguel A. Hernández-Mocholí, Eugenio Merellano-Navarro, Jorge Pérez-Gómez, Jorge Rojo-Ramos and José Carmelo Adsuar

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(6), 3262; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19063262 - 10 Mar 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1704

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is currently the most prevalent mental illness in the world. It is a very frequent geriatric syndrome that causes a high degree of disability and increases mortality in the elderly population. This mental disorder is a social and public health problem that alters the quality of life (Qol) of the patient. Physical strength work has been reported to improve the clinical picture of people with depression. Objective. To determine the relationship between lower body strength, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), depression status and body mass index (BMI) in older women with depression. Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study with 685 elder women with depression. Results: A mild direct correlation (Rho = −0.29; p ≤ 0.001) between stand-ip test and EQ-5D-3L test was shown. There is a mild inverse correlation between stand-up test and six of fifteen items of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) (Rho item 1 = −0.24; p ≤ 0.001; item 4 = 0.11; p ≤ 0.001; item 5 = −0.20; p ≤ 0.001; item 7 = −0.15; p ≤ 0.001; item 11 = −0.19; p ≤ 0.001; item 13 = −0.21; p ≤ 0.001). Between Stand-Up test and BMI, the correlation is weak inverse (Rho = −0.20; p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: There is a significant association of lower body strength with HRQoL, and BMI, as well as some variables of depression status in elder women with depression. Better scores in the stand-up test lead to an improvement in HRQoL and BMI. Therefore, stand-up test could be a complementary tool in public health for improve HRQoL in the elderly women with depression. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

13 pages, 912 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Validity and Reliability of the Portuguese Version of the Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire—EVS III

by Marco Batista, Marta Leyton-Román and Ruth Jiménez-Castuera

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1612; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19031612 - 30 Jan 2022

Viewed by 2201

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to validate the Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire—EVS III, using confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement model. A total of 822 Portuguese individuals of both genders, aged between 18 and 66 years old (M = 28.43 SD = 12.07), participated in this study, of which 382 were male (46.5%) and 440 were female (53.5%). The main results obtained revealed that the psychometric qualities prove the adequacy of the factor structure of the Healthy Lifestyles Questionnaire—EVS III (7 factors/32 items) and that it has acceptable validity indices: χ² = 644.6828, p = 0.000, df = 168, χ²/df = 3.84, NFI = 0.901, TLI = 0.902, CFI = 0.921, IFI = 0.922, MFI = 0.900, GFI = 0.909, AGFI = 0.901, RMR = 0.073, SRMR = 0.059 and RMSEA = 0.059, enabling the assessment of factors related to a balanced diet, respect for mealtimes, tobacco consumption, alcohol consumption, consumption of other drugs, resting habits and physical activity habits. The Portuguese version of the Healthy Lifestyles Questionnaire—EVS III can be used with reasonable confidence for the assessment of healthy lifestyles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

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13 pages, 937 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Do Fitter Children Better Assess Their Physical Activity with Questionnaire Than Less Fit Children?

by Jerneja Premelč, Kaja Meh, Henri Vähä-Ypyä, Vedrana Sember and Gregor Jurak

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1304; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19031304 - 24 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2450

Abstract

Most physical activity (PA) questionnaires assess moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) describing the physical exertion of individuals that might be influenced by their physical fitness. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether fitter children could better assess their PA with the questionnaire than less fit children. The cross-sectional validation study was conducted with 108 children (60 girls) aged 11 to 14 years, who were divided into three fitness groups based on the results of the 600 m running test. To answer the research question, the agreement between their assessment of PA using the SHAPES questionnaire and the UKK RM42 accelerometer data was analysed. One quarter of the participants achieved at least 60 min of MVPA each day, measured by accelerometer. The average MVPA obtained was 97.8 ± 35.6 min per day, with the high fitness group having a significantly higher value compared with the other groups. Moderate to high validity coefficients were found in the high fitness group (Spearman’s ρ range 0.34–0.70). In contrast, the lower fitness groups had poor to moderate validity for all variables (Spearman’s ρ range 0.03–0.42). These results suggest that the fittest children self-assess their PA with the questionnaire better than less fit children, which may advance new directions for the development and evaluation of PA questionnaires and their usability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

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21 pages, 2619 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Physical Activity Participation in Rural Areas: A Case Study

by Celia Marcen, Eduardo Piedrafita, Rubén Oliván and Irela Arbones

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1161; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19031161 - 20 Jan 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3319

Abstract

Sport participation and physical activity promotion have been intensively studied, especially regarding large cities. However, in many cases, rural municipalities have comparatively reduced services, including health care, due to the low profitability that these have for companies and entities. In this sense, the purpose of this article was to describe a case study of the promotion of physical activity in rural areas based on the results of a European project. Carried out in a rural municipality of around 8500 inhabitants with a population density of less than 25 inhabitants/km², the project’s purpose was the promotion of autonomous physical activity among its inhabitants. For this, a diagnostic analysis of the sports areas of the environment and a survey of physical activity habits among the population were carried out. A series of routes were designed, marked, and signposted, and canopies with explanatory posters about the possibilities of healthy physical activity and recommendations were added. Free-use facilities were installed, and opening events were carried out in such a way as to stimulate sports practice among the population. This article presents the results obtained from the analysis, as well as the possibilities of replication in other municipalities with similar needs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

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14 pages, 354 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Family Is My Priority: How Motherhood Frames Participation in Physical Activity in a Group of Mothers Living in a Low Socioeconomic Status Area

by Paula Wittels, Tess Kay and Louise Mansfield

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1071; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19031071 - 19 Jan 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2215

Abstract

Socioeconomic status (SES) is known to influence strongly both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Whilst there are multiple factors with complex interactions that provide the explanation for this observation, differences in the uptake of physical activity between high and low SES groups play a role. This in-depth qualitative study set out to understand the response of a group of mothers with young children living in a low SES area of a London (UK) borough to the current physical activity guidance and to investigate whether existing and established interventions based on behavior change are appropriate for this group. A series of three in depth interviews was carried out with the mothers (n = 20) over a period of 16 months, and the data collected were analyzed thematically. Four main themes were identified: (1) mothering comes before exercise; (2) mothers are a special case; (3) alone or together; and (4) facilities fail mothers. The mothers were unsure about the benefits of exercise, whether it was relevant for them and how to accommodate exercise alongside their mothering responsibilities. Family and peer group could be both a barrier and a facilitator to participation in physical activity. Without an in depth understanding of the role of physical activity in the lives of mothers of young children, behavior change-based public interventions are likely to fail to meet the needs of this group. A reduction in the current health inequities will only be possible when the needs of the mothers are acknowledged and used as the basis of appropriate public health guidance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

9 pages, 319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Online and Offline Behavior Change Techniques to Promote a Healthy Lifestyle: A Qualitative Study

by Daniël Bossen, Monique Bak, Katja Braam, Manon Wentink, Jasmijn Holla, Bart Visser and Joan Dallinga

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 521; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19010521 - 04 Jan 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2649

Abstract

Combined lifestyle interventions (CLI) are focused on guiding clients with weight-related health risks into a healthy lifestyle. CLIs are most often delivered through face-to-face sessions with limited use of eHealth technologies. To integrate eHealth into existing CLIs, it is important to identify how behavior change techniques are being used by health professionals in the online and offline treatment of overweight clients. Therefore, we conducted online semi-structured interviews with providers of online and offline lifestyle interventions. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach. Thirty-eight professionals with (n = 23) and without (n = 15) eHealth experience were interviewed. Professionals indicate that goal setting and action planning, providing feedback and monitoring, facilitating social support, and shaping knowledge are of high value to improve physical activity and eating behaviors. These findings suggest that it may be beneficial to use monitoring devices combined with video consultations to provide just-in-time feedback based on the client’s actual performance. In addition, it can be useful to incorporate specific social support functions allowing CLI clients to interact with each other. Lastly, our results indicate that online modules can be used to enhance knowledge about health consequences of unhealthy behavior in clients with weight-related health risks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

0 pages, 976 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reliability and Validity of Slovenian Versions of IPAQ-SF, GPAQ, and EHIS-PAQ for Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentarism of Adults

by Kaja Meh, Vedrana Sember, Saša Đurić, Henri Vähä-Ypyä, Paulo Rocha and Gregor Jurak

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 430; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19010430 - 31 Dec 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2610 | Correction

Abstract

Health policies rely on physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior data collected through PA questionnaires (PAQs). Validity of international PAQs varies among countries. Therefore, it is important to know the validity of the national versions of the PAQs to properly evaluate the results. We conducted a validation study of the Slovenian versions of the International PAQ Short Form (IPAQ-SF), the Global PAQ (GPAQ), and the PAQ used in the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS-PAQ) on 306 healthy adults. The most valid and reliable constructs in all tested were sedentary behavior and vigorous PA (VPA), however the criterion validity of these constructs was low (Spearman’s ρ 0.38–0.45 for sedentary behavior and 0.34–0.42 for VPA). Moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) had low validity (0.26–0.29) despite being used as a standard measure of PA behavior. Participants over-reported MVPA for 17 to 156 min and underreported the sedentary behavior for more than two hours. The test-retest study found high reliability for sedentary behavior (0.69–0.81) and low to moderate reliability for PA behavior (0.42–0.76). The Slovenian versions of the observed PAQs are a useful tool for national PA surveillance, but for qualitative assessment of individual health-related PA behavior they should be combined with accelerometer-based devices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

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12 pages, 475 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exercise Referral Instructors’ Perspectives on Supporting and Motivating Participants to Uptake, Attend and Adhere to Exercise Prescription: A Qualitative Study

by Colin B. Shore, Stuart D. R. Galloway, Trish Gorely, Angus M. Hunter and Gill Hubbard

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 203; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19010203 - 25 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3485

Abstract

Exercise referral schemes are designed to support people with non-communicable diseases to increase their levels of exercise to improve health. However, uptake and attendance are low. This exploratory qualitative study aims to understand uptake and attendance from the perspectives of exercise referral instructors using semi-structured interviews. Six exercise referral instructors from one exercise referral scheme across four exercise referral sites were interviewed. Four themes emerged: (i) the role that instructors perceive they have and approaches instructors take to motivate participants to take-up, attend exercise referral and adhere to their exercise prescription; (ii) instructors’ use of different techniques, which could help elicit behaviour change; (iii) instructors’ perceptions of participants’ views of exercise referral schemes; and (iv) barriers towards providing an exercise referral scheme. Exercise referral instructors play an important, multifaceted role in the uptake, attendance and adherence to exercise referral. On-going education and peer support for instructors may be useful. Instructors’ perspectives help us to further understand how health and leisure services can design successful exercise referral schemes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

10 pages, 347 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Youth Leisure-Time Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire (YLSBQ): Reliability and Validity in Colombian University Students

by Miguel Alejandro Atencio-Osorio, Hugo Alejandro Carrillo-Arango, María Correa-Rodríguez, Diego Rivera, José Castro-Piñero and Robinson Ramírez-Vélez

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(15), 7895; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18157895 - 26 Jul 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2973

Abstract

Sedentary behavior (SB) is influenced by variations in social, cultural and economic contexts. This study assesses the test–retest reliability and validity of the Youth Leisure-time Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire (YLSBQ), a self-report tool that examines total and domain-specific SB in a cohort of young adults from Colombia. A cross-sectional validation study was conducted among 447 Colombian college students (52.8% men; mean (± standard deviation) age of 19.55 ± 2.54 years). To assess the reliability of the YLSBQ, Kappa statistics (k) were used. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to determine validity. The Cronbach alpha for the 12 behaviors of the YLSBQ showed a good-to-excellent internal consistency (0.867, ranging from 0.715–0.935). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) indicated that 10 items (83.0%) and two items (17.0%) showed excellent and good reliability, respectively. Furthermore, ICC between the total sedentary time was 0.926 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.912 − 0.939), which was interpreted as excellent. The goodness-of-fit tests provided evidence that overall, a four-factor solution was an adequate fit with the time scores. In conclusion, the YLSBQ could be considered a reliable, valid and usable tool for the assessment of SB in young adults in a Latin American country. We found that the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were similar to those of the original Spanish validation study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

Other

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22 pages, 1230 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Impact of Seasonality on Physical Activity: A Systematic Review

by Antonio Garriga, Nuria Sempere-Rubio, María José Molina-Prados and Raquel Faubel

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 2; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19010002 - 21 Dec 2021

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 3831

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze the available scientific evidence of the impact of seasonality on physical activity (PA). PA refers to walking, biking, sports and/or active recreation. Methods: The search was performed in the following databases: PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane and Embase. All publications from January 2015 to September 2020 assessing seasonal variations on physical activity development in adults were selected. Results: A total of 1159 articles were identified, of which 26 fulfilled the selection criteria involving 9300 participants from 18 different countries. The results obtained suggest that seasonality affects PA independently of the countries, pathologies of the participants and the tool to collect PA information. Conclusions: PA level varies across the seasons, with higher PA level in summer compared with other seasons, especially in winter. Sedentary behavior follows the opposite trend. Impact of seasonality variations should be considered in clinical research involving PA as a primary outcome as well as in interventions on PA promotion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Analysis of Healthy Lifestyles with Special Focus on Physical Activity)

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