Survey On The Present Status Of The Healthy Path Program

BackgroundInsufficient physical activity is one of the six lifestyle-related high risk factors which lead to a continually climbing of the morbidity and mortality of chronic disease worldwidely. Results of 2002 National Nutrition and Health Survey reveal a very low physical activity level both in urban and rural residents in China. Insufficient physical activity has become a hot issue that threatens population's well being and quality of life. To strengthen people's physique and maintain the wellbeing, Healthy Path Program (for short, HPP) has been advocated by Department of Sports for All of the General Administration of Sport of China. Researches on HPP from public health's perspective are important while such studies are rare.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate and analyze the current usage status of Healthy Path Program in China, to evaluate the advantages and barriers of choosing HPP as the platform of the community based physical activity promotion, and to provide evidence based information for population physical activity promotion decision making.MethodsQuestionnaire survey has been used in the study. Baseline information of HPP collected through panel discussion with experts from sports sectors and public health sectors were used to develop a questionnaire, a drawing collection of HPP equipment, and a detailed investigation planning. Field survey was conducted in urban communities located in Beijing, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and Chengdu, Sichuan province.720 adults (18 yrs+) were interviewed through the questionnaire.360 of them were interviewed on HPP sites when they were using the equipment. Others were interviewed at home.Important index of the survey include the awareness of HPP, current usage status of HPP, purpose of exercising on HPP, effects of exercising, safety of HPP, evaluation of HPP, the utilization rate, and the reasons why some residents don't use HPP equipment.Data acquired through field survey were input via Epidata 3.1 software and analyzed by SPSS 13.0 software.Results1. results of onsite survey(1) The awareness of HPP is 69.9% averagely. There is 77.5% residents use HPP equipment to strengthen physiques. Other popular purposes include losing weight and enjoying pastime with a prevalence of 19.1% and 17.7%, respectively.(2) Nearly half of the residents (47.5%) use HPP equipment every day. More than 90%(90.4%) residents walk to HPP sites. They learn to use the equipment through imitate other people or by themselves (the rate is 43.8% and 45.8%, respectively). Only one third of the residents read the HPP exercising instruction to master the skills.82.3% residents tend to exercise after work.(3) The significant effects after exercising on HPP are psychological betterment, good quality of sleep, and increased feet and legs strength. There are 61%,36.8%, and 34.8% residents reported these effects, respectively.93.5% of the interviewees show that there is no injury occuraning on HPP.6.2% residents report contusion but not serious. Only one adult expressed he got a fracture due to exercise on HPP.(4) Generally, the proportion of interviewees who claimed that quantity of HPP equipment is not sufficient reached to 54.5%.47.2% residents mentioned that there is no supervision on HPP sites.34.3% residents said that there is no protection measures during exercising. Broken equipment is also a significant problem that confused the users. Consequently,63.2% residents ask for increasing HPP equipment, and 49.2% residents suggest that special staff should be arranged to supervise the HPP sties. More than half of the residents (56.7%) express their satisfaction to HPP though there are 1.7% interviewees claim the negative comments on HPP.2. results of home visit survey(1) The usage rate of HPP equipment is 72%(257/357).9% residents never participant in any kind of physical activity.(2) Half of the interviewees who don't exercise on HPP have chosen other exercising ways.42% residents consider busy work or study as an important barrier that hold them back from HPP exercise. Other reasons include that residents don't like exercising (28%), and 21% residents claim that they are healthy enough even without any exercise.Conclusion1. Resident's gender, age, occupation, and education background are factors influenced the current use status of HPP. The general public expresses their willingness to use HPP equipment to boost their body health. Female, the younger, and residents with a higher education background prefer to participate in exercise to lose weight. Residents tent to exercise on HPP equipment after work. It's more common to participate in physical activity on HPP among the elder people than others. People with a high education background express a high willingness to exercise while their actual physical activity level is lower than others'. The positive effect after exercising on HPP reported by the elder is more obvious than others. Psychological betterment effect is more obviously among the students. 2. The awareness of HPP is high among urban residents with the fact that elder people and residents with a lower level education background show a relative lower awareness. HPP is a good option for physical activity because of its high safety and availability. It could be considered as the platform of community based physical activity promotion.3. However there is demand of adding more equipment and assigning special staff to supervise on HPP sites. Moreover, issues including exercising without specific purposes and lacking of scientific exercise practice should be addressed in the future. Withdraw from using HPP equipment due to busy in the life and work is a tough issue.Suggestions1. It's recommended to take advantage of HPP to promote community-based physical activity projects. Parternship and cooperation between health sectors and sports sectors should be established to promote the using of. HPP. The evaluation and surveillance of HPP using should be addressed in the future which should include the energy expenditure calculation of specific HPP equipment.2. Providing sufficient HPP equipment, updating, and repairing broken ones are necessary to guarantee users'compliance and the exercise safety on HPP.