Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Study protocol

Understanding determinants of nutrition, physical activity and quality of life among older adults: the Wellbeing, Eating and Exercise for a Long Life (WELL) study

Authors: Sarah A McNaughton, David Crawford, Kylie Ball, Jo Salmon

Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes | Issue 1/2012

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Nutrition and physical activity are major determinants of health and quality of life; however, there exists little research focusing on determinants of these behaviours in older adults. This is important, since just as these behaviours vary according to subpopulation, it is likely that the determinants also vary. An understanding of the modifiable determinants of nutrition and physical activity behaviours among older adults to take into account the specific life-stage context is required in order to develop effective interventions to promote health and well-being and prevent chronic disease and improve quality of life.

Methods

The aim of this work is to identify how intrapersonal, social and environmental factors influence nutrition and physical activity behaviours among older adults living in urban and rural areas. This study is a cohort study of adults aged 55-65 years across urban and rural Victoria, Australia. Participants completed questionnaires at baseline in 2010 and will complete follow-up questionnaires in 2012 and 2014. Self-report questionnaires will be used to assess outcomes such as food intake, physical activity and sedentary behaviours, anthropometry and quality of life. Explanatory variables include socioeconomic position, and measures of the three levels of influence on older adults’ nutrition and physical activity behaviours (intrapersonal, social and perceived environmental influences).

Discussion

Obesity and its determinant behaviours, physical inactivity and poor diet are major public health concerns and are significant determinants of the quality of life among the ageing population. There is a critical need for a better understanding of the determinants of nutrition and physical activity in this important target group. This research will provide evidence for the development of effective policies and programs to promote and support increased physical activity and healthy eating behaviours among older adults.
Literature
1.
Department of Economic and Social Affairs; United Nations: World Population Ageing: 1950–2050. United Nations, New York; 2009.
2.
Department of Health and Ageing: National Strategy for an Ageing Australia An Older Australia, Challenges and Opportunities for all. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra; 2001.
3.
WHO. Diet, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases: Report of a Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation. WHO Technical Report Series 916, Geneva; 2003.
4.
Magarey A, McKean S, Daniels LA: Evaluation of fruit and vegetable intakes of Australian adults: the National Nutrition Survey 1995. Aust N Z J Public Health 2006, 30(1):32–37. 10.1111/j.1467-842X.2006.tb00083.xCrossRefPubMed
5.
Armstrong T, Bauman A, Davies J: Physical activity patterns of Australian adults. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra; 2000.
6.
National Health and Medical Research Council: Dietary guidelines for Older Australians. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra; 1999.
7.
Wannamethee SG, Shaper AG, Lennon L, Whincup PH: Decreased muscle mass and increased central adiposity are independently related to mortality in older men. Am J Clin Nutr 2007, 86: 1339–1346.PubMed
8.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Older Australia at a glance. Cat. No. 52. 4th edition. AIHW, Canberra; 2007.
9.
Nelson ME, Rejeski WJ, Blair SN, Duncan PW, Judge JO, King AC, et al.: Physical activity and public health in older adults: recommendation from the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2007, 39(8):1435–1445. 10.1249/mss.0b013e3180616aa2CrossRefPubMed
10.
Edstrom KM, Devine CM: Consistency in women’s orientations to food and nutrition in midlife and older age: a 10-year qualitative follow-up. J Nutr Educ 2001, 33(4):215–223. 10.1016/S1499-4046(06)60034-1CrossRefPubMed
11.
Kremers SP, Visscher TL, Brug J, Paw MJ CA, Schouten EG, Schuit AJ: Netherlands research programme weight gain prevention (NHF-NRG): rationale, objectives and strategies. Eur J Clin Nutr 2005, 59(4):498–507. 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602100CrossRefPubMed
12.
45 and Up Study Collaborators. Cohort Profile: The 45 and Up Study. Int J Epidemiol 2008, 37(5):941–947.CrossRef
13.
Ball K, Crawford D: Socioeconomic status and weight change in adults: a review. Soc Sci Med 2005, 60(9):1987–2010. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.08.056CrossRefPubMed
14.
Mishra GD, Ball K, Arbuckle J, Crawford D: Dietary patterns of Australian adults and their association with socioeconomic status: results from the 1995 National Nutrition Survey. Eur J Clin Nutr 2002, 56: 687–693. 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601391CrossRefPubMed
15.
Chinn DJ, White M, Drinkwater C, Raybould S: Barriers to physical activity and socioeconomic position: implications for health promotion. J Epidemiol Comm Health 1999, 53: 191–192. 10.1136/jech.53.3.191CrossRef
16.
National Rural Health Alliance, Aged and Community Services Australia: Older people and aged care in rural, regional and remote Australia. Aged and Community Services Australia, Melbourne; 2004.
17.
Baranowski T, Weber Cullen K, Baranowski J: Psychosocial correlates of dietary intake: advancing dietary intervention. Ann Rev Nutr 1999, 19: 17–40. 10.1146/annurev.nutr.19.1.17CrossRef
18.
Stokols D: Translating social ecological theory into guidelines for community health promotion. Am J Health Promot 1996, 10(4):282–298. 10.4278/0890-1171-10.4.282CrossRefPubMed
19.
Glanz K, Bishop DB: The role of behavioral science theory in development and implementation of public health interventions. Annu Rev Public Health 2010, 31: 399–418. 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.012809.103604CrossRefPubMed
20.
Nestle M, Wing R, Birch L, DiSogra L, Drewnowski A, Middleton S, et al.: Behavioral and social influences on food choice. Nutr Rev 1998, 56(5 Pt 2):S50-S64.PubMed
21.
Dallongeville J, Marecaux N, Cottel D, Bingham A: Association between nutrition knowledge and nutritional intake in middle-aged men from northern France. Public Health Nutr 2001, 4(1):27–33.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Hermstad AK, Swan DW, Kegler MC, Barnette JK, Glanz K: Individual and environmental correlates of dietary fat intake in rural communities: a structural equation model analysis. Soc Sci Med 2010, 71(1):93–101. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.03.028CrossRefPubMed
23.
Sharkey JR, Johnson CM, Dean WR: Food access and perceptions of the community and household food environment as correlates of fruit and vegetable intake among rural seniors. BMC Geriatr 2010, 10: 32. 10.1186/1471-2318-10-32PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
24.
Crawford D, Ball K: Behavioural determinants of the obesity epidemic. Asia Pacific J Clin Nutr 2002, 11(Suppl):S718-S721.CrossRef
25.
Ball K, Timperio AF, Crawford DA: Understanding environmental influences on nutrition and physical activity behaviors: where should we look and what should we count? Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2006, 3: 33. 10.1186/1479-5868-3-33PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
26.
Australian Electoral Commission (AEC): AEC Annual Report 2009–2010. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra; 2010.
27.
State Government of Victoria: Regional Infrastructure Development Fund Act 1999 Act No. 64/19991999. State Government of Victoria, Melbourne; 1999.
28.
Australia Bureau of Statistics: 2001 Census of Population and Housing: Information Paper – Socio Economic Indexes for Areas (Cat. No. 2039.0). Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra; 2003.
29.
Dillman DA: Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method. Wiley, New York; 1978.
30.
Dillman DA: Mail and internet surveys: The tailored design method. John Wiley & sons, Hoboken; 2007.
31.
Chung S, Popkin BM, Domino ME, Stearns SC: Effect of retirement on eating out and weight change: an analysis of gender differences. Obesity 2007, 15(4):1053–1060. 10.1038/oby.2007.538CrossRefPubMed
32.
Ware JE, Sherbourne CD: The MOS 36-ltem Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36): I. Conceptual Framework and Item Selection. Medical Care 1992, 30(6):473–483. 10.1097/00005650-199206000-00002CrossRefPubMed
33.
Schofield MJ, Mishra G: Validity of the sf-12 compared with the sf-36 health survey in pilot studies of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. J Health Psychol 1998, 3(2):259–271. 10.1177/135910539800300209CrossRefPubMed
34.
Mishra GD, Gale CR, Sayer AA, Cooper C, Dennison EM, Whalley LJ, et al.: How useful are the sf-36 sub-scales in older people? mokken scaling of data from the halcyon programme. Qual Life Res 2011, 20(7):1005–1010. 10.1007/s11136-010-9838-7PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
35.
Lee C, Dobson AJ, Brown WJ, Bryson L, Byles J, Warner-Smith P: Cohort profile: the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Int J Epidemiol 2005, 34(5):987–991. 10.1093/ije/dyi098CrossRefPubMed
36.
Dobson AJ, Byles J, Brown WJ: Womens Health Australia: Fifth survey for mid age women March 2007. The University of Newcastle, Newcastle; 2007.
37.
Rowland M: Self-reported weight and height. Am J Clin Nutr 1990, 52(6):1125–1133.PubMed
38.
McAdams MA, Van Dam RM, Hu FB: Comparison of self-reported and measured BMI as correlates of disease markers in US adults. Obesity 2007, 15(1):188–196. 10.1038/oby.2007.504CrossRefPubMed
39.
Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Chute CG, Litin LB, Willett WC: Validity of self-reported waist and hip circumferences in men and women. Epidemiology 1990, 1(6):466–473. 10.1097/00001648-199011000-00009CrossRefPubMed
40.
Burton NW, Brown W, Dobson A: Accuracy of body mass index estimated from self-reported height and weight in mid-aged australian women. Aust N Z J Public Health 2010, 34(6):620–623. 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2010.00618.xCrossRefPubMed
41.
Ball K, Crawford D, Ireland P, Hodge A: Patterns and demographic predictors of 5-year weight change in a multi-ethnic cohort of men and women in Australia. Public Health Nutr 2003, 6(3):269–81.CrossRefPubMed
42.
Field AE, Willett WC, Lissner L, Colditz GA: Dietary fat and weight gain among women in the nurses’ health study. Obesity 2007, 15(4):967–976. 10.1038/oby.2007.616CrossRefPubMed
43.
Smith KJ, McNaughton SA, Gall SL, Blizzard L, Dwyer T, Venn AJ: Involvement of young australian adults in meal preparation: cross-sectional associations with sociodemographic factors and diet quality. J Am Diet Assoc 2010, 110(9):1363–1367. 10.1016/j.jada.2010.06.011CrossRefPubMed
44.
Smith K, Gall SL, McNaughton SA, Blizzard L, Dwyer T, Venn AJ: Skipping breakfast: longitudinal associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in the childhood determinants of adult health study. Am J Clin Nutr 2010, 92: 1316–1325. 10.3945/ajcn.2010.30101CrossRefPubMed
45.
McLennan W, Podger A: National Nutrition Survey Users’ Guide Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No. 4801.0. AGPS, Canberra; 1998.
46.
Rutishauser IHE, Webb K, Abraham B, Allsopp R: Evaluation of short dietary questions from the 1995 National Nutrition Survey. National Food and Nutrition Monitoring and Surveillance Project. Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Canberra; 2001.
47.
Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjostrom M, Bauman AE, Booth ML, Ainsworth BE, et al.: International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2003, 35(8):1381–1395. 10.1249/01.MSS.0000078924.61453.FBCrossRefPubMed
48.
Bauman A, Ainsworth BE, Sallis JF, Hagströmer M, Craig CL, Bull FC, et al.: The descriptive epidemiology of sitting a 20-country comparison using the international physical activity questionnaire (ipaq). Am J Prev Med 2011, 41(2):228–235. 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.05.003CrossRefPubMed
49.
Salmon J, Owen N, Crawford D, Bauman A, Sallis JF: Physical activity and sedentary behavior: a population-based study of barriers, enjoyment, and preference. Heal Psychol 2003, 22(2):178–188.CrossRef
50.
Ball K, Mishra G, Crawford D: Which aspects of socioeconomic status are related to obesity among men and women? Int J Obes 2002, 26(4):559–565. 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801960CrossRef
51.
Mishra G, Ball K, Dobson A, Byles J, Warner-Smith P: The measurement of socioeconomic status: investigation of gender-and age-specific indicators in australia: national health survey ’95. Soc Indic Res 2001, 56: 73–89. 10.1023/A:1011834621663CrossRef
52.
Sallis JF, Pinski RB, Grossman RM, Patterson TL, Nader PR: The development of self-efficacy scales for healthrelated diet and exercise behaviors. Health Educ Res 1988, 3(3):283–292. 10.1093/her/3.3.283CrossRef
53.
Andajani-Sutjahjo S, Ball K, Warren N, Inglis V, Crawford D: Perceived personal, social and environmental barriers to weight maintenance among young women: a community survey. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2004, 1(1):15. 10.1186/1479-5868-1-15PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
54.
Giles-Corti R, Macintyre S, Clarkson JP, Pilora T, Donovan RJ: Environmental and lifestyle factors associated with overweight and obesity in perth, australia. Am J Heal Promot 2003, 18(1):93–102. 10.4278/0890-1171-18.1.93CrossRef
55.
Baranowski T, Watson K, Missaghian M, Broadfoot A, Baranowski J, Cullen K, et al.: Parent outcome expectancies for purchasing fruit and vegetables: a validation. Public Health Nutr 2007, 10(3):280–291.CrossRefPubMed
56.
Parmenter K, Wardle J: Development of a general nutrition knowledge questionnaire for adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 1999, 53(4):298–308. 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600726CrossRefPubMed
57.
Demakakos P, Hacker E, Gjonça E: Perceptions of ageing. In Retirement, health and relationships of the older population in England: The 2004 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (Wave 2). Edited by: Banks J, Breeze E, Lessof C, Nazroo J. Institute for Fiscal Studies, London; 2006.
58.
Sallis JF, Grossman RM, Pinski RB, Patterson TL, Nader PR: The development of scales to measure social support for diet and exercise behaviors. Prev Med 1987, 16(6):825–836. 10.1016/0091-7435(87)90022-3CrossRefPubMed
59.
Baum FE, Bush RA, Modra CC, Murray CJ, Cox EM, Alexander KM: Epidemiology of participation: an Australian community study. J Epidemiol Community Health 2000, 54(6):414–423. 10.1136/jech.54.6.414PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
60.
Lochner K, Kawachi I, Kennedy BP: Social capital: a guide to its measurement. Health Place 1999, 5(4):259–270. 10.1016/S1353-8292(99)00016-7CrossRefPubMed
61.
Sampson RJ, Raudenbush SW, Earls F: Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science 1997, 277(5328):918–924. 10.1126/science.277.5328.918CrossRefPubMed
62.
Mujahid MS, Diez Roux AV, Morenoff JD, Raghunathan T: Assessing the measurement properties of neighborhood scales: from psychometrics to ecometrics. Am J Epidemiol 2007, 165(8):858–867. 10.1093/aje/kwm040CrossRefPubMed
63.
64.
Tam CS, Garnett SP, Cowell CT, Campbell K, Cabrera G, Baur LA: Soft drink consumption and excess weight gain in Australian school students: results from the nepean study. Int J Obes 2006, 30(7):1091–3. 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803328CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Understanding determinants of nutrition, physical activity and quality of life among older adults: the Wellbeing, Eating and Exercise for a Long Life (WELL) study
Authors
Sarah A McNaughton
David Crawford
Kylie Ball
Jo Salmon
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1477-7525
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-10-109

Other articles of this Issue 1/2012

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 1/2012 Go to the issue

Research

Short form of the Changes in Outlook Questionnaire: Translation and validation of the Chinese version

Research

Validation of the Orofacial Esthetic Scale in the general population

Research

The assessment of generalized anxiety disorder: psychometric validation of the Spanish version of the self-administered GAD-2 scale in daily medical practice

Research

Construction of the descriptive system for the assessment of quality of life AQoL-6D utility instrument

Research

Psychometric properties of the Greek Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire

Research

Development and validation of a new Arrhythmia-Specific questionnaire in Tachycardia and Arrhythmia (ASTA) with focus on symptom burden