title: Attitudes and beliefs associated with leisure-time physical activity among African American adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  More than 60% of African American adults do not meet recommendations for moderate physical activity. We sought to discover the extent to which health attitudes and beliefs are associated with leisure-time physical activity in this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  African American adults were asked about their health attitudes and beliefs during a national survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 807 African American men and women aged 18 years and older. Random-digit dialing was employed, sampling telephone numbers by geographical region, area code, and population size.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were asked six health belief questions on the importance of exercise and body weight in health. Logistic regression was used to determine which of these factors were associated with physical activity participation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percent of respondents participating in some form of physical activity during the past month was 87.1% in men and 82.9% in women. Factors associated with previous month physical activity in men were perceived personal importance of exercise (P < .001) and necessity of exercise for health (P = .018). In women, perceived personal importance of exercise (P < .001), necessity of exercise for health (P = .006), and having enough activity space (P = .017) were associated with physical activity participation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Though the direction of causation is unknown, having the attitude that it is important to exercise or be physically active for health predicts physical activity participation in both African American men and women. Creating a sense of importance of physical activity to relieve stress and foster good health may stimulate physical activity participation in African American adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294-0013, USA. oaffuso@uab.edu
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Affuso
authors.forename: Tiffany L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Nefertiti H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Durant
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Allison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D014481:United States