Physical Activity of Remote Indigenous Australian Women: A Postcolonial Analysis of Lifestyle

The “ripple effect”: Health and community perceptions of the Indigenous Marathon Program on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, Australia

“…Although shame or shyness factors were evident barriers to physical activity in our research and earlier, it seemed that running and being physically active in public around Thursday Island were becoming normalised. This may be attributed to some of the activities of IMP, in making running by Torres Strait Islander/Aboriginal people more common through IMP marathon training, broader community participation of Deadly Runners and empowerment of local leaders.…”

“…Secondly, interviewees described how it is becoming normal to run and do physical activity on Thursday Island. They spoke of the local, cultural phenomenon of “shame” but how this was gradually reducing in the community. The impact of local Torres Strait Islander/Aboriginal people participating in running and other physical activities seemed to have made it more appropriate for others to be similarly active, translating to a perceived increase in running by local people.…”

“…Our quantitative questionnaire response rate was high although the proportion of Torres Strait Islander/Aboriginal respondents was lower than the resident population proportion. This quantitative finding may have been due to the shame or embarrassment factors around being physically active in public, evident in the Torres Strait culture and apparent in the qualitative findings. However, almost all interview participants were Torres Strait Islander/Aboriginal, giving a strong local voice to the data.…”

“…Physical activity participation is influenced by personal and environmental barriers and enablers . A study with women and girls from 21 families living in the Torres Strait and the Cape York Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) reported a theme of “shame,” defined as being ashamed or embarrassed by being physically active in public, as a barrier to physical activity participation …”

Correlates of physical activity among Australian Indigenous and non‐Indigenous adolescents

“…Importantly, our data found a stronger gender difference in the Indigenous sample compared to the non‐Indigenous participants. This may be due in part to cultural factors relating to gender in Indigenous communities, which may require culture‐specific solutions 40 such as initiatives targeted to Indigenous girls. Family support and facility access have been found to be a pathway for associations between sports club participation and socioeconomic status among female adolescents 41 and represent important future avenues for enhancing participation rates.…”