Getting Australia more active: challenges and opportunities for health promotion

Abstract

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that regular physical activity promotes health and assists in the prevention of noncommunicable diseases but this is presently curtailed by low and unhealthy participation rates in Australia and comparable industrialised countries. Compounding the problem is knowledge that physical inactivity is independently associated with poor health outcomes. Despite physical activity being described as public health's 'best bet' or 'best buy', motivating individuals and groups to adopt and maintain physical activity continues to be a major challenge for health professionals. Global advocacy for prevention efforts must be operationalised through national to local strategies to promote and support physical activity in multiple settings including the home, schools and workplace. The Australian health promotion community has and continues to play a leadership role in physical activity promotion. However, there is an urgent need to continue to promote the importance of physical activity, along with its pivotal role in the prevention of non-communicable diseases, alongside related agendas including healthy diets, tobacco control and environmental sustainability. This commentary overviews the contemporary status of physical activity promotion in Australia and identifies key challenges and opportunities moving forward.

Exercise at an onsite facility with or without direct exercise supervision improves health‐related physical fitness and exercise participation: An 8‐week randomised controlled trial with 15‐month follow‐up

“…Small‐to‐moderate magnitude increases in physical activity levels and reductions in cardiometabolic disease risk factors have been observed following onsite workplace exercise interventions . However, there is an absence of longitudinal follow‐up data investigating the effect of short to moderate duration onsite exercise programs with or without direct exercise supervision on continued physical activity participation and ongoing physical health outcomes …”

Participant characteristics of users of holistic movement practices in Australia

“…While knowing which subpopulation groups seem to naturally feel attracted to HMPs may help inform targeted interventions to reach specific populations [53], it is also important to investigate participation barriers to currently underrepresented groups and design and test interventions aimed at overcoming such barriers. It is plausible, for instance, that the participation dominance of certain subgroups acts as deterrent to members of non-dominant subgroups (for example, the overabundance of women in yoga has been reported as a barrier to non-participating men [21], and the front covers of yoga life style magazines have been shown to predominantly feature slim, White women in their 20s and 30s [54]).…”

Health action process approach: promoting physical activity, and fruit and vegetable intake among Australian adults

“…However, they are typically complex due to the various intervention components and the multitude of factors influencing health behaviours ( Payne and Thompson, 2015 ). Consequently, the effectiveness of large-scale initiatives often varies ( Dombrowski et al , 2010 ) and sustaining a newly adopted health behaviour is often difficult for most people ( Hills et al , 2014 ). Therefore, identifying the processes and mechanisms underpinning behaviour change is important to ensure newly adopted health behaviours can be maintained into the future ( Michie, 2008 ).…”