Healthy lifestyle

Public release date: 2-April-2010 [| E-mail | Share] Contact: Elyse Messer A'ndreaaem1 @ psu.edu814-865-9481Penn Statele attitude toward important daily activity saludablela lifestyle physical activity may be unintentional be influenced by unconscious attitudes, said David Conroy, associate professor of kinesiology and human development and family studies. The challenge to encourage more activity may be met by understanding the motivation behind the exercise both deliberate and inherent behavior. "If you do not have the habit of being physically active, you can run out of energy trying to force yourself to do every day," said Conroy. "But if you can make regular physical activity, being active becomes a little easier. " Efforts to increase physical activity are at the forefront of public health research because the benefits of a healthy lifestyle go far beyond physical and mental wellness. However, most of these efforts focus on explicit motivation - external factors that lead to behavior change. explicit motivation may include U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommendation "for 150 minutes of aerobic activity throughout the week, or make arrangements with a friend to start a weight loss program. But explicit motivational processes are often not successful in causing the changes that people can maintain long term. Conroy, along with Shawna Doerksen, assistant professor of recreation, park and tourism management; Amanda Hyde, a graduate student in kinesiology, and Nuno Ribeiro, a degree in recreation, park and tourism management, examined 200 college students for a connection between physical activity and the level of purposeful activity. "It was the general level of activity we have focused on, is not exactly intentional activity - those little things that you do not even think of that help you burn a few extra calories," said Conroy. Their results, published in the April issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine, showed a positive correlation between individuals who have a positive attitude about physical activity and more physical activity performed unintentionally, such as climbing stairs instead of waiting for the elevator or walk over to the store because of parking available in the first place instead of seeking a larger space. The researchers measured the students' attitudes toward exercise not specified a common psychological test that uses words or images to activate the automatic response of a person. The computer-based test requires a categorization of a stimulus, in this case a type of physical activity, in words that are "good" or "bad." The faster a person associated with a partner either good or bad, the stronger connect those two things in his memory. Doerksen Conroy and also used questionnaires to determine the amount of physical activity to students predicted they would during the week. The amount varied, depending on the level of activity the students were in their social group or the results expected from physical activity. Researchers fit each student with a pedometer to calculate the total activity he or she experienced during a week. The number of involuntary activity is calculated by adjusting the total scores of the activity to account for the intentions of the people to be active. "We are trying to follow is now looking at a wider range of people," said Conroy. There are big differences in what motivates young adults, middle-aged adults or parents, and older adults who may have physical limitations, he said. Researchers are now exploring whether there are ways to promote or encourage physical activity a person without knowing it.