Physical activity of urban middle aged women in different domains: a cross sectional study

Background Knowledge of energy expenditure across various domains of total physical activity is important for the planning of population based strategies for the prevention and control of non communicable diseases (NCDs). Present study describes domain specific energy expenditure among women in 35–70 years of age. Methods We evaluated physical activity in different domains like-leisure time, household, occupational, sedentary activities etc. and daily energy expenditure in these activities. A cross sectional survey was done in the four municipal wards of Jaipur city in Rajasthan. A door to door survey was conducted and women in the age group of 35–70 years were contacted. Information was elicited on age, education, occupation, family type using a questionnaire. Data on physical activity were obtained using previously validated population specific questionnaire. Results Around 501 subjects participated in the study. Mean age was 45.63 ± 9.9 years. Total energy expenditure of the subjects was 1910.34 ± 271.63 kcal per day. Subjects’ expended maximum energy in household chores followed by sleep and sedentary activities, very few reported habit of regular exercise. Mean Physical Activity Level (PAL) of the subjects was 1.41 ± 0.19, which declined with aging. More than two third of the subjects had sedentary lifestyle i.e. PAL < 1.43. Conclusions In this study, subjects had high prevalence of sedentary lifestyle. There is urgent need to emphasize the lifestyle modification to prevent chronic morbidities.