The Awareness and Adoption of UK Physical Activity Guidelines by Socio-Demographics: A National Cross-Sectional Survey in Wales

TL;DR

This study found that only a small fraction of people in Wales are aware of UK physical activity guidelines, with some groups being less likely to know specific recommendations.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the awareness and adoption of physical activity guidelines across different socio-demographic groups in Wales.

Findings

Only 21.7% of participants had heard of the physical activity guidelines.

Females and participants with disabilities were less likely to know specific recommendations.

Awareness of guidelines was positively linked to knowing and following the recommendations.

Abstract

Designing and communicating physical activity guidelines takes considerable resources; thus, understanding the awareness and adoption of such guidelines by different population groups is important. A national cross-sectional survey (N = 972; aged 19+ years living in Wales) was delivered as part of a population panel using a multi-method approach (online, telephone and face-to-face). The survey measured the awareness and adoption of the 2019 UK physical activity guidelines and recommendations and socio-demographics, including age, sex, residential deprivation and disability status. Around a fifth (21.7%) of participants had heard of the physical activity guidelines. Almost a third (30.7%) reported knowing the moderate physical activity recommendation, with 13.3% knowing the vigorous physical activity recommendation and 13.4% knowing the muscle-strengthening recommendation. There were no significant socio-demographic differences in knowing the moderate recommendation (p > 0.05); however, females were less likely than males to report knowing the vigorous recommendation (p = 0.009), and participants with a disability were less likely than those without a disability to report knowing the muscle-strengthening recommendation (p = 0.026). Having heard of the physical activity guidelines increased the likelihood of knowing each of the three recommendations (all p < 0.001). Additionally, for both moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and muscle-strengthening recommendations, a positive relationship was found between knowing the recommendation and reporting meeting the recommendation (p = 0.008 and p = 0.002, respectively). The awareness of both the physical activity guidelines and their recommendations was low. The development of communication strategies to aid knowledge mobilisation should be considered. Socio-demographic differences in awareness should be considered when designing interventions in line with proportionate universalism principles.