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Young adults physical activity behavior and chronic disease prevention knowledge across Appalachia
Author(s) -
Barr Makenzie L,
Beller Erika L,
Colby Sarah E,
Morrell Jesse,
Kidd Tandalayo,
Riggsbee Kristin,
Olfert Melissa Diann
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.790.49
Subject(s) - appalachia , medicine , gerontology , cancer prevention , incidence (geometry) , obesity , disease , demography , population , environmental health , cancer , paleontology , physics , sociology , optics , biology
Chronic disease refers to a host of diseases ranging from pulmonary diseases to cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, metabolic disorders, and cancer. Within the United States population, the Appalachian region (New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama) has some of the highest incidence rates within the country. Conditions such as these are on the rise, and intervening is critical. Specifically, the knowledge of chronic disease prevention is important to understand early in the life span to decrease incidence in older adulthood. Additionally, previous research has shown that physical activity is a primary preventative action for chronic disease. In a sample of 18–24 year olds from eight different universities, which are predominately Caucasian (55%), non‐Appalachian (83.7%, Appalachian N=949, non‐Appalachian N=132), and female (66%), chronic disease prevention knowledge (CDK) and physical activity (PA) were summarized to identify the differences in scores across Appalachian status. CDK was broken into two categories: knowledge of fat and fiber in foods as it related to prevention and knowledge and beliefs of diet and cancer risk. These categories were scored on a scale of 1=low knowledge, 2=moderate knowledge, and 3=high knowledge. PA was scored from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) of 1=not active, 2=moderately active, and 3=very active. Participants who reported as identifying as Appalachian status had their highest proportion of individuals in the low knowledge level for fat and fiber knowledge (52.5%) and moderate level for diet and cancer knowledge (54.1%). For PA, Appalachian status individuals had their highest proportion in the ‘very active’ category (52.8%). Likewise, in the non‐Appalachian group, individuals were also highest proportion in the low knowledge level for fat and fiber knowledge (54.5%), and moderate level for diet and cancer knowledge (57.9%). Further, in IPAQ category, they were also in the ‘very active’ category (50.7%). For the current results, across both Appalachian and non‐Appalachian status, young adults from the eight universities are reported as being very active but have low knowledge of fat and fiber in foods for a prevention measure and moderate knowledge and beliefs of how diet impacts cancer risk. Further exploration is needed in the education of young adults on prevention of diet and chronic diseases. Support or Funding Information Approval to use the data set was granted by the University of Tennessee Institutional Review Board prior to study implementation. This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2014‐67001‐21851.