Providing opportunities for rural-residing older adults (OA) to be physically active is important for their health and well-being. OA (65 years and older) now comprise 13.3% of the overall United States population ( Administration on Aging and the Department of Health and Human Services, 2012
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Ashleigh J. Sowle, Sarah L. Francis, Jennifer A. Margrett, Mack C. Shelley, and Warren D. Franke
Verity Cleland, Marita Sodergren, Petr Otahal, Anna Timperio, Kylie Ball, David Crawford, Jo Salmon, and Sarah A. McNaughton
This study aimed to determine whether associations between the perceived environment and physical activity are moderated by urban-rural status among midolder aged adults. Environmental (safety, aesthetics, physical activity environment) and physical activity (total, leisure, transport) data from 3,888 adults (55 to 65 years) from urban and rural areas of Victoria, Australia, were analyzed. Multinomial logistic regression examined interactions between urban-rural status and environments in associations with physical activity. Significant (P < .05) interactions were evident and indicated positive associations only among older rural adults for both safety and aesthetics with total and transport physical activity (e.g., rural adults reporting higher safety were 91% to 118% more likely to have higher activity than rural adults reporting low safety). In contrast, the physical activity environment was positively associated with leisure activity among only urban adults. Findings suggest that some tailoring of physical activity promotion strategies targeting the environment may be required for urban and rural midolder aged adults.
Jolanthe L. de Koning, Afroditi Stathi, and Kenneth R. Fox
The frequency of trips outdoors is a strong indicator of older adults’ physical activity levels. This qualitative study compared and contrasted determinants of trips outdoors between rural- (n = 13) and urban-living (n = 15) people aged 65 and older living in England. Interview transcripts were analyzed through directed and summative content analysis employing the Ecological Model framework. Some personal-level determinants (age-related barriers) and environment-level factors (car dependence, bus services) were shared across samples. The main differences were seen in how a community-based social network instigated trips outdoors for rural participants while family ties mostly led to trips outdoors for urban-living participants. Urban participants used and valued recreational facilities, but rural participants did not report them as important in determining trips outdoors. Strategies to improve public transport and minimize age-related barriers may translate from urban to rural contexts. However, social and/or physical environment interventions could be more effective if they were rural-grounded, not urban-translated.
Marziyeh Amraei and Elaheh Azadian
children, especially in girls. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the influence of urban and rural living environments on actual and perceived motor competence in girls between 8 and 12 years old. Method Participants The study used a descriptive comparative research design. The statistical
Danae Dinkel, Dipti Dev, Yage Guo, Emily Hulse, Zainab Rida, Ami Sedani, and Brian Coyle
Delaney et al 16 suggested that additional provider characteristics, such as urban or rural location, are needed to determine appropriate recommendations for policy and practice to provide important contextual information for providers. Further, in Nebraska, a majority of FCCHs are in rural areas. This
Laurie L. Schmidt, Shanthi Johnson, M. Rebecca Genoe, Bonnie Jeffery, and Jennifer Crawford
adverse health effects, increased health costs, and overall poorer health ( Desrosiers et al., 2004 ). Physical activity is one context where social interaction can occur. The environment in which people live may also influence health. Within the older adult population in Canada, 18% reside in rural
Constantinos A. Loucaides
Background:
A number of studies indicate higher prevalence of overweight and obesity among rural school children. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in personal, social, and environmental correlates of physical activity between school location (urban versus rural) and gender.
Methods:
Middle school children (N = 676) from different districts in Cyprus completed questionnaires assessing physical activity and potential correlates.
Results:
Children from rural schools reported higher friend support for physical activity and more ease of walk to a bus station from their home. Urban school children reported higher presence of sidewalks in their neighborhood. Boys reported more hours per day playing outside and higher enjoyment and friend support for physical activity than girls, whereas girls reported higher means in the variable ‘I see a lot of people walking or being physically active in my neighborhood’. Significant two-way interactions between gender and school location were noted with rural school girls having less favorable scores in a number of correlates of physical activity.
Conclusions:
More studies are needed to further understand the higher incidence of overweight and obesity observed among rural youth. Girls from rural areas may be targeted as a priority group for promoting physical activity.
Sam Zizzi, Dave Goodrich, Ying Wu, Lindsey Parker, Sheila Rye, Vivek Pawar, Carol Mangone, and Irene Tessaro
Although much has been learned about the global determinants of physical activity in adults, there has been a lack of specific focus on gender, age, and urban/rural differences. In this church-based community sample of Appalachian adults (N = 1,239), the primary correlates of physical activity included age, gender, obesity, and self-efficacy. Overall, 42% of all participants and 31% of adults age 65 years or older met recommended guidelines for physical activity, which suggests that most participants do not engage in adequate levels of physical activity. Of participants who met physical activity guidelines, the most common modes of moderate and vigorous activity were walking briskly or uphill, heavy housework or gardening, light strength training, and biking. These particular activities that focus on building self-efficacy might be viable targets for intervention among older adults in rural communities.
Michael B. Edwards, Michael A. Kanters, and Jason N. Bocarro
Background:
This study’s purpose was to assess the opportunities for North Carolina adolescents to be physically active in extracurricular middle school environments and to compare opportunities across community types.
Methods:
Data were analyzed based on the results of an electronic questionnaire distributed to a sample of 431 schools with a response rate of 75.4% (N = 325).
Results:
Nearly all schools offered interscholastic sports while fewer than half offered intramurals or noncompetitive activities to students. “Open gym” was offered at only 35% of schools, while 24% of schools offered extracurricular activities to students with disabilities. Overall, 43.4% of schools offered special transportation to students who participated in some extracurricular physical activities. Schools in rural areas generally offered fewer programs and had fewer supports than schools located in more urbanized areas. Over two-thirds of rural schools offered no extracurricular programs other than interscholastic sports.
Conclusions:
Schools can be important settings for physical activity. North Carolina’s middle schools and its rural schools in particular, are falling short in efforts to provide extracurricular physical activity programming recommended by researchers and policy groups.1−6 Lower accessibility to extracurricular physical activities may partially contribute to higher levels of physical inactivity found in the state.
Jolanthe de Koning, Suzanne Richards, and Afroditi Stathi
–.472, p < .001; Davis, Fox, Hillsdon, Coulson, et al., 2011 ). From activity diaries, it was seen that these trips often involved social contact ( Davis, Fox, Hillsdon, Coulson, et al., 2011 ). Measuring only self-reported intentional PA or exercise may miss such forms of activity. The Rural Context
