Abstract
The goal of the present study was to determine if a daily living non-exercise physical activity intervention increases physical activity and self-efficacy in sedentary college students. Daily living non-exercise activities are defined as physical activity not classified as exercise or sports such as household chores and movement/travel. A 10-week health promotion program aimed at increasing daily non-exercise physical activities was implemented in which participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 23) or control group (n = 19). Participants in the intervention group were provided advice about their daily living non-exercise physical activity during weekly individual counseling sessions. The intervention and control groups also attended two seminars providing health-related information.
A survey was administered for 1 week before the start of the program and after the end of the program to assess levels of physical activity of the two groups using a physical activity monitor. They were also asked to complete a questionnaire regarding general self-efficacy and the SF-36®Health Survey. The intervention group exhibited significant increases in moderate-intensity physical activity and general self-efficacy compared with the controls. Based on their answers to the SF-36® Health Survey, scores for the intervention group for the categories of bodily pain and general health changed positively and significantly; however, these changes in the intervention group were not significantly different from those of control group. Given that the target setting designed to increase daily non-exercise physical activities during the intervention was not very demanding, the repeated attainment of less-demanding targets resulted in enhanced self-efficacy in sedentary students. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that health promotion programs designed to increase daily non-exercise physical activities as the first step in promoting behavioral change are effective in shifting sedentary students from inactive to active lifestyles.
