• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Sociodemographic and body image measures associated with overall and domain-specific physical activity among a group of Malaysian university undergraduates
  • Contributor: Sutan, Rosnah; Muhammad Amir, Kamilah; Mohd Tamil, Azmi
  • imprint: Office of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University - DIGITAL COMMONS JOURNALS, 2022
  • Published in: Journal of Health Research
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1108/jhr-01-2021-0015
  • ISSN: 0857-4421; 2586-940X
  • Keywords: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ; Health Policy ; Education ; Cultural Studies
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>This study aims to determine the prevalence of overall and work, transport and leisure domain physical activity (PA) and their associated factors among Malaysian university undergraduates.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>This is an online cross-sectional study, which gathered data on sociodemographic parameters, PA and body image. Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) was used to collect data on PA while Multidimensional Body-Self Relation Questionnaire-Appearance Scale (MBSRQ-AS) for body image constructs. Three faculties were chosen through stratified random sampling where all its undergraduates were invited. A total of 898 students responded, of which 718 were accepted for analysis.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>Prevalence of overall work, transport and leisure domain PA among the students was 82.2%, 47.8%, 36.1% and 51.4% respectively. Overall PA was associated with male students (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.840, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.182–2.865); work PA was associated with the Malay race (AOR: 1.728, 95% CI: 1.240–2.409) and having part-time jobs (AOR: 3.098, 95% CI: 1.680–5.714); transport PA was associated with medical faculty (AOR: 1.677, 95% CI: 1.214–2.317) and leisure PA was associated with male students (AOR: 3.836, 95% CI: 2.746–5.360) and high overweight preoccupation (AOR: 1.486, 95% CI: 1.089–2.028).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title><jats:p>Self-reported variables may be subjected to overestimation and bias.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title><jats:p>Distributions of PA and its associated factors may be used as guidance for health promotions catering to university students.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Social implications</jats:title><jats:p>Factors affecting PA among the youth are correlated with social life events.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>Focus on domain-specific PA in association with body image measures may add values to existing PA studies, which is lacking in Malaysia.</jats:p></jats:sec>
  • Access State: Open Access