Affiliations: [a] School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| [b] Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA
| [c] Institute for Healthy Aging and the School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Wendell C. Taylor, PhD, MPH, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health, 7000 Fannin Street, Suite 2670, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Tel.: +1 713 500 9635; Fax: +1 713 500 9602; E-mail: Wendell.C.Taylor@uth.tmc.edu.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the associations among family, friend, and coworker social support for physical activity. It is important to know the sources of social support that facilitate and promote physical activity among fulltime working adults. OBJECTIVE: We analyzed the associations among family, friend, and coworker social support for physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among participants in a worksite study. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 144 participants from four worksites in a large, southwestern city in the United States. The intervention for the worksite study was Booster Breaks (a physical activity routine of 15 minutes) practiced daily to break-up prolonged sitting time. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions were conducted using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Age was inversely associated (p = 0.001), and social support from friends (p = 0.04) and coworkers (p = 0.003) were positively associated with physical activity in the unadjusted model. After controlling for all the covariates (age, sex, marital status, BMI, education, and income) in the model, only coworker social support was positively (p = 0.027) associated with physical activity among participants in the workplace study. CONCLUSIONS: Coworker social support is an important correlate of physical activity and should be incorporated in workplace health promotion programs.
Keywords: Workplace health promotion, social support, physical activity
