Individual, social and environmental factors influencing physical activity levels and behaviours of multiethnic socio-economically disadvantaged urban mothers in Canada: A mixed methods approach

Table 1 Personal characteristics and physical activity levels reported by SED mothers completing the KPAS tool

	Total	Unemployed	Employed	P-value*
Number of mothers (n)	59	22	37
Age, years [(mean, SD)]	35.7 (7.7)	35.8 (7.1)	35.6 (8.1)	0.93
Body Mass Index, kg/m² [n; (%)]
Normal weight, BMI < 25	25 (42.4%)	9 (40.9%)	16 (43.2%)	0.90
Overweight, BMI 25 – 29.9	22 (37.3%)	9 (40.9%)	13 (35.1%)
Obese, BMI ≥30	12 (20.3%)	4 (18.2%)	8 (21.6%)
Ethno-cultural grouping [% (n)]
Multi-ethno cultural Anglophone	19 (32%)	11 (50%)	8 (22%)	0.27
Multi-ethno cultural Francophone	23 (39%)	4 (19%)	19 (51%)
Aboriginal	17 (29%)	7 (32%)	10 (27%)
Kaiser Physical Activity Survey Indices [median (25^th-75^th percentiles)]
Sports/exercise index ^a	3.0 (2.0 − 3.8)	3.0 (2.0 − 3.8)	3.0 (2.3 − 3.8)	0.66
Household/Care giving index ^b	3.0 (2.6 − 3.3)	3.1 (2.5 − 3.4)	2.9 (2.6 − 3.2)	0.55
Active living index ^c	3.0 (2.5 − 3.5)	3.0 (2.8 − 3.3)	3.0 (2.5 − 3.5)	0.45
Occupational index ^d	2.4 (1.0 − 3.1)	1.0 (1.0 − 1.0)	2.9 (2.5 − 3.5)	<0.0001
Total Activity Score (TAS) I ^e [mean (SD)]	8.8 (1.9)	8.9 (1.9)	8.8 (1.8)	0.89
Total Activity Score (TAS) II ^f [mean (SD)]	N/A	N/A	11.7 (2.2)	N/A
Leisure time activity levels [mean (SD)] ^g
Kcal/kg body weight/day (KKD)	3.0 (1.9)	3.0 (1.7)	2.9 (2.1)	0.91
Kcal/day (KD)	209.9 (152.1)	214.2 (138.8)	207.3 (161.5)	0.87
Kcal/week (KW)	1469 (1065)	1499 (971)	1451 (1131)	0.87

^*P value for significance of differences between TAS I (employed) vs. TAS II (employed).
^a Calculated as the average of 5-level (range 1–5; low – high) categorical responses to 3 universal questions about participation in sports/exercise plus a 5-level ordinal mapping of a continuous score derived from frequency and duration of participation in three most frequent sports/exercise activities.
^b Calculated as the average of 5-level categorical responses to 11 questions about household/care giving activities. ^c Calculated as the average of 5-level categorical responses to 4 questions about active and sedentary living habits.
^d Calculated as the average of 5-level categorical responses to 8 questions about occupational activities plus 3 level ordinal mapping based on Labour Department coding of occupational titles. The value of “1” represents “None” with respect to employment.
^e Sum of all indices, except occupational index, for all mothers.
^f Sum of all indices, including occupational index, for employed mothers only.
^g Calculated from the mode, frequency, duration of specific sports/exercise activities converted into a leisure time physical activity score expressed as MET hours per week, then multiplying frequency by duration and by MET value and summed up over all activities. One MET (metabolic equivalent) is approximately 1 kcal/kg per hour and is equivalent to the oxygen consumption required at rest.

ISSN: 1479-5868