title: The Majority of the Migrant Factory Workers of the Light Industry in Shenzhen, China May Be Physically Inactive.
abstract: Physical inactivity is a strong risk factor of non-communicable diseases (NCD). In China, there are 250 million migrant factory workers, who are susceptible to physical inactivity and hence NCD because of work nature and setting. With random stratified sampling, 807 such workers of the light industry were recruited in Shenzhen, China and completed a self-administered questionnaire with informed consent. The prevalence of inadequate physical activity (defined according to the World Health Organization's recommendation on level of moderate/vigorous physical activity) was 95.4%. Of all participants, 69.1% showed "a very low level of physical activity" (VLLPA), defined as ≤30 minutes of weekly moderate/vigorous physical activity, which was significantly associated with female sex (Odds ratio [OR]=1.65), lower education level (OR=0.10 to 0.33, primary education as the reference group) and married status (OR=0.63, single status as the reference group). Adjusted for these factors, perceived social support (Adjusted OR=0.87) was negatively associated with VLLPA, while job stress due to workload, which was significant in the univariate analysis (OR=0.98), became non-significant (p=0.184). Significant interaction between perceived social support and perceived job stress onto VLLPA was found (p=0.044), implying that the negative association between job stress and VLLPA, which might reflect a potential response to cope with stress by performing exercises, was stronger among those with weaker social support. The extremely low level of physical activity rings an alarm, as it implies high risk of NCD, and as there are no existing programs promoting physical activity in this group. Interventions need to take into account social support, potential coping to job stress, and structural factors of the factory setting, while involving factories' management.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Healthcare Management, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Center for Medical Anthropology and Behavioral Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Improvement, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China; The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Joseph T F
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao, China.
authors.forename: Anise M S
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Vincent W S
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Healthcare Management, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shenglai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D016526:Workload; D055815:Young Adult