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Social Determinants of Physical Activity Among Adult Asian-Americans: Results from a Population-Based Survey in California

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health volume 17, pages 1061–1069 (2015)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 02 October 2014

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the key social determinants of physical activity among six Asian-American subgroups using public access 2007 California Health Interview Survey data. Physical activity was defined as meeting the American College of Sports Medicine recommendation of 450 metabolic equivalent-minutes per week. Factors positively associated with meeting physical activity recommendations included being bilingual among Chinese and Vietnamese, and increasing age for Chinese only. On the other hand, being middle aged, currently married, and low neighborhood safety were significantly associated with lower odds of meeting physical activity recommendations, as were being female for Japanese and Koreans, and living above the poverty level for Vietnamese. Such results highlight the heterogeneity among Asian-Americans and need for health messages targeted at specific subgroups. Additionally, the role of built environment, particularly in areas with high Filipino residents, should be a public health priority for increasing physical activity outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and their collaborators for making the California Health Interview Survey publically available. We would also like to thank Benjamin Becerra for his statistical consultation. This project was partially funded by Center for Health Research Dissertation Award at Loma Linda University.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Promotion and Education, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, 24951 North Circle Drive, Loma Linda, CA, 92350, USA

    Monideepa Bhattacharya Becerra, Patti Herring & Helen Hopp Marshak

  2. Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, 24951 North Circle Drive, Loma Linda, CA, USA

    Jim E. Banta

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  1. Monideepa Bhattacharya Becerra
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  2. Patti Herring
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Correspondence to Monideepa Bhattacharya Becerra.

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Bhattacharya Becerra, M., Herring, P., Marshak, H.H. et al. Social Determinants of Physical Activity Among Adult Asian-Americans: Results from a Population-Based Survey in California. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 1061–1069 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-0074-z

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Keywords

  • Acculturation
  • Physical activity
  • American College of Sports Medicine
  • Asian Americans
  • California Health Interview Survey