Perceived Resources in Urban Environment and Sedentary Lifestyle in Four Asia
Countries
Introduction
The impact of physical activity on reducing obesity and illness and improving quality of life is
well-established （Bouchard, 1887 C. 2012） and studies specific to Asian populations confirm its
importance (1851 Wen,C.P. 2011; 1847 Xu,F. 2012; 1853 Kim,J. 2011; 1877 Ma,G. 2008; 1860
Qin,L. 2010; 1883 Villegas,R. 2006; 1867 Han, M.A. 2009)
. Several studies indicate that modernization, urbanization and improving economic
conditions account for decreases in physical activity in China and Taiwan among both men and
women (1871 Ng,S.W. 2009). The generalization of web-based services and western style diet also
contribute to lack of physical activity in eastern countries. (Tsai, etal. 2007; Odegaard, etal. 2012)
The aim of this study is to examine how urban residents perceive the extent of resources for
exercise in urban environment is associated with their likelihood of having a sedentary lifestyle
across four Asian countries (China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan).
Methods
Simple
Data from the East Asia Social Survey (EASS) 2010 Health Module was used. The EASS is a
cross-national project including China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan with the intent to
research social issues important in East Asian countries. The EASS is incorporated into a
pre-existing survey framework for each country to produce nationally representative samples. This
research focus on urban resident, therefore, it takes the following types of community the
participants identified living in from the question of self- assessment of community type: (1) a big
city, (2) the suburbs or outskirts of a big city, (3) a town or small city.
Measures
Physical activity:
Self-identified physical activity routine was measured using the health behavior question titled
“exercise” within the EASS health module, “How often do you do physical activity for at least 20
minutes that makes you sweat or breath heavier than usual?” To identify individuals who do not
exercise at all, those who responded “never” were considered having a sedentary lifestyle.
Responses of “several times a year or less often,”“several times a month,” “several times a week”
or “daily” were grouped as others.
Individual Socio-demographic Characteristics:
In the present study, socio-demographic correlates included gender, age, highest level of
educational attainment and employment status. Age was divided into three age-groups, young
adult (18~44), mature adult (45~64) and the aged (65~80). Participant above age 80 are not take
into consideration due to difference life spans among the four countries. Education level was
divided into two categories: above or below college and university. Employment status was
classified into full-time, part-time or having no current work income.
Physical and Social Environment:
In order to measure the perception of the neighborhood physical environment for suitability
for exercise, diet and public facilities, the following three items with 5-point likert scale responses
are used: The neighborhood is suitable for doing exercise such as jogging or walking and the
neighborhood has adequate public facilities. A large selection of fresh fruits and/or vegetable is
available in the neighborhood. Measured and objectively assessed access to non-residential
facilities such have been found to be similarly related to physical activity levels (Strath, Greenwald,
etal). Studies have also found measures of perceived safety and neighborhood relationships are
related to physical activity (Renalds). Social environment was measured using a scale created from
two items: The neighborhood is safe and the neighbors are willing to provide assistance when I am
in need. To clarify the result, the result of the 5-point likert scale responses is simplified into two
categories, agree and disagree.
Statistical Analysis
Chi-square test is used to testify the correlation between socio-demographic characteristics
and exercise habits among four Asia countries. Physical and social environment factors are further
tested with exercise habits by socio-demographic characteristics. PASW Statistics 18 was used for
all analyses.
Multiple regression is also used for each country separately to investigate the association with
two categories of variables: (1) socio-demographic characteristics, (2) physical and social
environment.
Results and Discussion
Sample Characteristics
The number of sample of urban residents is 6,815 individuals from China (n=2234), Japan
(n=1526), South Korea (n=1317), and Taiwan (n=1738). The percentage of “never exercise” among
four countries is 29.6% (2,016 individuals). There were significant between country differences
among all variables in the study. China had the highest proportion of urban population who never
exercise (39.1%).
Country/Region * Never_Exercise Crosstabulation
Never_Exercise
Never
Country/Region CN-China
Count
% within
Others
Total
873
1361
2234
39.1%
60.9%
100.0%
540
986
1526
35.4%
64.6%
100.0%
314
1003
1317
23.8%
76.2%
100.0%
Country/Region
JP-Japan
Count
% within
Country/Region
KR-South
Count
Korea
% within
Country/Region
TW-Taiwan Count
% within
289
1449
1738
16.6%
83.4%
100.0%
2016
4799
6815
29.6%
70.4%
100.0%
Country/Region
Total
Count
% within
Country/Region
In aspect of relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and never exercising,
significant differences (p<0.05) exist in never exercise and other exercise frequency with gender
and education among four countries (China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan). Employment
status does not have significant differences with never exercising and “others” among four
countries. Apart from China, different age groups have association with exercise frequency. Older
group of age is associated with less percentage of never exercise.
Findings regarding socio-demographic specific relationship between perceived resources of
urban environment and sedentary lifestyle show different outcome among four Asia countries.
Japan has no significant difference between physical environment and exercising, which may due
to well-developed urbanization throughout there. China and South Korea, perceived resources for
exercise in urban environments is associated with the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle. The
association between perceived environment and sedentary lifestyle is particularly strong with
South Korea. This may correlates to the fierce nationality of South Korean. On the contrary, the
relation is not obvious for the same case in Taiwan and Japan. This might be the cause of the
unequally distribution of the natural resource and public facilities per each community.