Food & Health Alliance

The 2009 PAHA Regional Seminars focused on:

• The adult physical activity results from 2008 Scottish Health Survey.
• The development of UK Physical Activity Guildelines.
• The use of subjective and objective physical activity measurement tools.

 2008 Scottish Health Survey Adult Results

Sonnda Catto, Public Health Surveys Manager, NHS Health Scotland provided an analysis of the adult physical activity results from the 2008 Scottish Health Survey highlighting that only 39% of adults in Scotland currently meet the physical activity recommendations. Concluding that although  there has been significant improvements in adult compliance with the recommendations over both the short and long term (ie 2003-08 and 1998-08) inequalities still exist as in previous surveys in relation to gender, age, SIMD. 

Identifying priority groups for future actions as:

• Men aged 45+ year
• All women
• Older adults aged 65+ years
• Those in the least active group living in the most deprived areas

Summarising that the Let's Make Scotland More Active (Scottish Executive, 2003) targets for 2022 remain achievable but only if the rate of progress is accelerated. 

UK Physical Activity Guidelines

Graeme Scobie, Public Health Adviser, NHS Health Scotland provided an overview of the development of UK Physical Activity Guidelines. Highlighting the proposed development of recommendations for early years (0-5 years) and revised recommendations for young people (5-18 years), adults (18- 65 years) and older adults (65+ years).

The use of subjective and objective physical activity measurement tools

David Rowe, Reader in the Department of Sport, Culture and the Arts at the University of Strathclyde provided an overview of the use of a range of subjective and objective physical activity measurement tools, discussing the pros and cons of each and the process of determining which is the most appropriate to use and when.

Emma Broadhurst, Fife Physical Activity Co-ordinator provided a practical example of how subjective and objective measures are being used to measure the baseline physical activity levels of children in Fife.