title: Exploring lay views on physical activity and their implications for public health policy. A case study from East Belfast.
abstract: It is now recognised that inactive lifestyles underpin much of the disease burden evident in the richer nations of the world. Indeed, the WHO has identified physical inactivity as a 'global public health problem' and has established minimum physical activity (PA) targets for people at different stages of the life-course. Yet, according to WHO, just under 1/3 of working age adults across the globe meet those targets and it is not at all clear how the disjunction between the recommendations of policy makers and the behaviour of ordinary people might be surmounted. Using an opportunity to examine the impact of an urban regeneration project on community residents in East Belfast (Northern Ireland) this paper examines the views of some 113 people on how to increase rates of PA in an area of multiple deprivation. The results of the analysis suggest that lay people rarely consider PA as a discrete issue, or one that centres on individuals and their motivation, but rather as one component in a complex web of concerns, processes and events that include such things as the actions of neighbours and relatives, material and political environments, vandalism, violence, and the weather. We explore and unravel the nature of those concerns using novel methods of content analysis that generate 'issue webs'. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which lay people conceptualize 'activity' and to the manner in which they point to ways of encouraging activity that are rooted in everyday life rather than in the corpocentric, agent-centred and often sport dominated strategies favoured by local policy makers. Our results support those who argue that interventions to increase rates of PA need to move beyond behavioural approaches that focus on individuals and consider the social, political and material contexts in which 'activity' occurs.
authors.affiliation: UKCRC Center of Excellence for Public Health Research (Northern Ireland), Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK; School of Sociology, Social Policy & Social Work, Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK. Electronic address: l.prior@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Prior
authors.affiliation: UKCRC Center of Excellence for Public Health Research (Northern Ireland), Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK; Institute of Clinical Sciences, Block B, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK. Electronic address: David.Scott@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: UKCRC Center of Excellence for Public Health Research (Northern Ireland), Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK; Institute of Clinical Sciences, Block B, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK. Electronic address: ruth.hunter@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: UKCRC Center of Excellence for Public Health Research (Northern Ireland), Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK; Institute of Clinical Sciences, Block B, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK. Electronic address: michael.donnelly@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.affiliation: UKCRC Center of Excellence for Public Health Research (Northern Ireland), Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK; Institute of Clinical Sciences, Block B, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK. Electronic address: m.tully@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tully
authors.affiliation: UKCRC Center of Excellence for Public Health Research (Northern Ireland), Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK; Institute of Clinical Sciences, Block B, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK. Electronic address: m.cupples@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cupples
authors.affiliation: UKCRC Center of Excellence for Public Health Research (Northern Ireland), Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK; Institute of Clinical Sciences, Block B, Queen's University Belfast, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK. Electronic address: F.Kee@qub.ac.uk.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004779:Environment Design; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009660:Northern Ireland; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011634:Public Health; D011639:Public Opinion; D014506:Urban Renewal
keywords: Health in all policy; Health promotion; Physical activity; Social ecology; Sport; Therapeutic landscapes; Urban regeneration