The changing racial and ethnic makeup of the U.S. will require health professionals to practice with cultural competence in areas such as promotion of physical activity, where cultural beliefs may mediate health promotion behaviors. Although the benefits of physical activity are now widely accepted, midlife women, especially ethnic minority women, have low participation rates in physical activity, and prevalence rates of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, and all-cause mortality among ethnic minority women (that can be effectively reduced by increasing physical activity) have been reported to be much higher than those of White midlife women. A plausible reason for the low participation rate is that the women's ethnic-specific attitudes toward physical activity have rarely been incorporated into relevant interventions. The purpose of this study is to explore attitudes of midlife women from four ethnic groups [Hispanic, Non-Hispanic (N-H) White, N-H African Americans, and N-H Asians] toward physical activity while considering the relationships between their attitudes and their actual participation in physical activity within the ethnic-specific contexts of their daily lives. Data will be gathered via Internet survey and ethnic- specific online forums to allow for a national sample.
The specific aims are to: a) explore in attitudes toward physical activity among midlife women from the four ethnic groups;b) explore ethnic differences in women's participation in physical activity;c) explore relationships between women's attitudes toward physical activity and their participation in physical activity in each ethnic group;and d) explore ethnic-specific contexts of women's daily lives that influence women's participation in physical activity. The Midlife Women's Attitudes toward Physical Activity (MAPA) model will provide theoretical direction for the study. Innovative data collection methods include an Internet survey among 500 midlife women recruited using the quota sampling method with multiple recruitment strategies through various Internet settings, and online forums of 6-month duration among four different ethnic groups (30 members per group). Long-term goals are to: a) develop a knowledge base on ethnic-specific midlife women's attitudes toward physical activity within the ethnic-specific contexts and b) develop a web-based physical activity promotion education program for multi-ethnic groups of midlife women. The proposed study will contribute to reducing health disparities, a major public health concern in the U.S., by directing the development of physical activity promotion programs that can serve ethnic minority midlife women through the Internet.
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