Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and influencing factors of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) in rural areas of China.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: A multistage, stratified cluster sampling method was used to obtain samples in the general population of Henan province in China.
Participants: 38 515 participants aged 18-79 years were enrolled from the Henan Rural Cohort Study for the cross-sectional study.
Main outcome measures: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess the levels of PA and SB. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to calculate ORs and 95% CIs of potential influencing factors with physical inactivity.
Results: The age-standardised prevalence of light PA and sitting >7.5 hours per day were 32.74% and 26.88% in the general Chinese rural adults, respectively. Gender differences were: 34.91%, 29.76% for men and 31.75%, 25.16% for women, respectively. The prevalence of participants with both light PA and sitting >7.5 hours per day was 13.95%. Education at least junior middle school, divorced/widowed/unmarried, RMB1000> per capita monthly income ≥RMB500, sitting >7.5 hours per day were negatively associated with light PA. For sitting >7.5 hours per day, the negative factors were being men, divorced/widowed/unmarried, heavy smoking, Fishery products, vegetable and fruits intake .
Conclusion: Physical inactivity and SB were high in rural China. There is an increased need to promote a healthy lifestyle to the rural population.
Clinical trial registration: The Henan Rural Cohort Study has been registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Register.Registration number: ChiCTR-OOC-15006699. http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=11375.
Keywords: physical activity; prevalence; rural population; sedentary behavior.
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