Expressed interest in health-related lifestyle change in three communities.
Little is known about the public's motivation to change lifestyles in a healthy direction. This study reports results from surveys conducted in three divergent New Zealand communities, two urban and one rural (total n = 467), and shows a striking degree of interest in changing lifestyles, and a uniformity of preferences. Two-thirds or more of all adults interviewed expressed interest in changing their lifestyles, and three lifestyle areas consistently emerged as being of top priority: fitness, losing weight and stress-management. When a Maori subsample is examined, an even higher degree of interest was found than that for Europeans. The implications of these findings for the planning of health promotion activities are discussed.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D012737:Sex Factors