Perceived Environmental Barriers to Physical Activity in Young

Perceived Environmental Barriers to Physical Activity in Young Adults in Dhaka City, Bangladesh Riaz Uddin School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences Nicola W Burton School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences Asaduzzaman Khan School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences 1

Health benefits of physical activity • Improves fitness • Helps manage weight • Can prevent/ manage diabetes, cardiovascular disease • Relieves stress, depression • Promotes wellbeing/life satisfaction 2

Consequences of physical inactivity • Increases risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) • The 4 th leading risk factor for global death • Globally 5. 3 million death/year are attributable to inactivity 3

Physical activity and young adults Activity declines significantly during young adulthood (age 18 -24 y) Lack of activity in young adults may cause: • • Substantial weight gain Poor physical health Poor psychological wellbeing Onset of chronic diseases in later life 4

Bangladesh: country profile • Population: 157 m • 8 th most populous in the world • Density: 1, 203 people/km 2 • 15 -24 y aged population: 20% 5

NCD risk factors in Bangladesh Physical inactivity is the 3 rd risk factor for NCDs in Bangladesh 6

Physical inactivity in Bangladesh 7

Rationale of the study • Bangladesh is going through rapid socio-economic transition • People adopting sedentary lifestyle (more motorised vehicles, easy access to screen-based devices) • Physical inactivity is highly prevalent in young adults • No information on perceived barriers to physical activity in this population 8

Study aims To identify the commonly perceived environmental barriers to physical activity in young adults in Dhaka City, Bangladesh, and to examine if the perceptions differed by gender 9

Study design and participants • Cross-sectional study • Undergraduate students in Bangladesh • Age: 18 -24 y 10

Recruitments 11

Participants characteristics Average age: 20. 7 ± 1. 35 y 12

Self-administered survey • Seven perceived environmental barrier items • Example items: ► NO convenient places nearby for physical activity ► NOT safe to walk in neighbourhood 13

Data analyses • Proportions agreeing to barrier items were reported (95% CI) • Binary logistic regression analyses to examine gender difference • Outcome was dichotomised: 1 = Agreement (agree + strongly agree) & 0 = disagreement (disagree + strongly disagree) • Models were adjusted for potential confounders such as: age, mother’s education, father’s occupation, living arrangement 14

Common perceived environmental barriers 15

Perceived environmental barriers, by gender 16

Gender differences by logistic regression# Female young adults were more likely to report: • Unsafe neighbourhood OR: 5. 54; 95% CI: 3. 62 -8. 49 • Poor street-lighting at night OR: 2. 43; 95% CI: 1. 60 -3. 69 • Lack of convenient places #Adjusted OR: 1. 73; 95% CI: 1. 16 -2. 59 for the confounders 17

Streets at night © Sheikh Mustakim Hasan used with permission 18

Green space WHO recommends: 9 m 2/capita Available in Dhaka: 0. 05 m 2/capita http: //www. rajukdhaka. gov. bd 19

Green space Image: Author (left). Wikimedia Commons (right) Attribution: By No machine-readable author provided. Soman assumed (based on copyright claims). No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). 20 CC BY 2. 5, https: //commons. wikimedia. org/w/index. php? curid=340677

Footpaths © Zohirul Hoque Bapy, used with permission 21

Traffic Attribution: By No machine-readable author provided. Soman assumed (based on copyright claims). No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). CC BY 2. 5, https: //commons. wikimedia. org/w/index. php? c 22 urid=340664

What’s next? Safe Female friendly Dedicated time slots for females Community facilities Easy access Clean & tidy Well lit 23

References • Khan et al. (2017) Public Health 145: 75 -82 • Moniruzzaman et al. (2016) BMC Public Health 17: 59 • Uddin et al. J Health Pop Nutr (In Press) • Zaman et al (2015). BMC Public Health, 15: 659 24

Thank you Any Questions? Comments? Email: riaz. uddin@uq. net. au 25