title: Are Australian immigrants at a risk of being physically inactive?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We examined whether physical activity risk differed between migrant sub-groups and the Australian-born population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were drawn from the Australian National Health Survey (2001) and each resident's country of birth was classified into one of 13 regions. Data were gathered on each resident's physical activity level in the fortnight preceding the survey. Multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounders examined the risk of physical inactivity of participants from each of the 13 regions compared to the Australian-born population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a greater prevalence of physical inactivity for female immigrants from most regions compared to male immigrants from a like region. Immigrants from South East Asia (OR 2.04% 95% CI 1.63, 2.56), Other Asia (OR 1.53 95% CI 1.10, 2.13), Other Oceania (1.81 95% CI 1.11, 2.95), the Middle East (OR 1.42 95% CI 0.97, 2.06 [note: border line significance]) and Southern & Eastern Europe are at a significantly higher risk of being physically inactive compared to those born in Australian. In contrast, immigrants from New Zealand (OR 0.77 95% CI 0.62, 0.94), the UK & Ireland (OR 0.82 95% CI 0.73, 0.92), and other Africa (OR 0.69 95% CI 0.51, 0.94) are at a significantly lower risk of being physically inactive compared to the Australian born population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future research identifying potential barriers and facilitators to participation in physical activity will inform culturally sensitive physical activity programs that aim to encourage members of specific regional ethnic sub-groups to undertake physical activity.
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular, Environment, Genetic and Analytical Epidemiology, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Jayantha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dassanayake
authors.forename: Shyamali C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Dharmage
authors.forename: Lyle
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gurrin
authors.forename: Vijaya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sundararajan
authors.forename: Warren R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Payne
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D044466:Asian People; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005061:Europe, Eastern / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007494:Ireland / Q000208:ethnology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008877:Middle East / Q000208:ethnology; D009043:Motor Activity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009520:New Zealand / Q000208:ethnology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D057185:Sedentary Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D057566:Self Report; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000208:ethnology