Exercise Attitudes and Behaviors - AARP

[Pages:50]Exercise Attitudes and Behaviors: A Survey of Adults Age 50-79

Conducted by RoperASW Report Prepared by RoperASW

AARP 601 E Street NW Washington, DC 20049 ?Copyright AARP, May 2002 Reprinting with Permission

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization for people 50 and over. We provide information and resources; advocate on legislative, consumer, and legal issues; assist members to serve their communities; and offer a wide range of unique benefits, special products, and services for our members. These benefits include AARP Webplace at , Modern Maturity, and My Generation magazines, and the monthly AARP Bulletin. Active in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP celebrates the attitude that age is just a number and life is what you make it.

Acknowledgements RoperASW prepared this report for AARP's Health Team under the direction of Teresa A. Keenan, Ph.D. We would like to thank Geoff Feinberg, Research Director, at RoperASW for his work on behalf of this project. We would also like to thank Jeffrey Love, Associate Research Director, Strategic Issue Research, who provided management review of the final report. For additional information contact Teresa A. Keenan at (202) 434-6274.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction and Method Overview ............................................................ 5 Key Findings ............................................................................................... 8 I. Attitudes and Knowledge Regarding Exercise ...................................... 12 II. Characteristics of the Healthy............................................................... 18 III. Current Physical Activity Among Americans 50 and Over................ 38 IV. Exercise Motivators ............................................................................ 51 V. Barriers to Exercise .............................................................................. 60 VI. Exercise Opportunities In Local Communities................................... 67 VII. Attitudes Toward Health and Fitness: A Multivariate

Segmentation................................................................................. 80 Demography.............................................................................................. 91 Appendix A: Annotated Questionnaires.................................... ... 92

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Introduction and Method Overview

Introduction and Method Overview

This report summarizes findings from two surveys undertaken on behalf of AARP to more fully understand the views of Americans age 50-plus toward staying fit--including their overall perceptions of health and wellness; their attitudes specifically toward physical activity; their reporting of former and current exercise patterns and behaviors; incentives and barriers to exercise; and awareness and usage of communitysponsored exercise programs/facilities.

Sample

Two thousand (2,000) Americans, in total, were interviewed for this study as follows:

First wave: 1,000 general public in the first survey

Second wave: 1,000 general public in the second survey

Each survey comprised a representative survey of 50-79 year-olds in the target population who live in the continental United States. The sample was drawn randomly from RDD (random digit dialing) lists.

Interviewing dates, method, and timing

All interviews were conducted by telephone. The first wave was conducted from October 22 to November 11, 2001. The second wave was conducted from March 20 to April 28, 2002. Each interview took 15-20 minutes, on average, to administer.

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Introduction and Method Overview

Sampling error

All samples are subject to some degree of sampling "error"--that is, statistical results obtained from a sample can be expected to differ somewhat from results that would be obtained if every member of the target population were interviewed. In this report, the maximum margin of error at a 95% confidence level is within +/- 3 percentage points for base sizes of 1,000. Subsample margins of error will be higher.

Weighting

Completed interviews were weighted by age, sex, education, and region to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the target population.

Percentages not totaling 100%

For tabulation purposes, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%.

In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total significantly more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent. Similarly, when only selected responses are shown, percentages may total less than 100%.

Asterisks (*) are used when percentages fall below 0.5%. A dash (-) indicates 0%.

Multivariate segmentation

In order to determine whether or not Americans 50-79 group themselves according to shared attitudes about exercise and fitness, RoperASW statisticians conducted a multivariate segmentation (K-Means) of respondents into six groups based on their level of physical activity and attitudes toward exercise and fitness (Qs. 7, 5a, 13, 14 from the first wave). Results are discussed in Chapter VII.

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Introduction and Method Overview

About RoperASW RoperASW, an NOP World Company, is the merger of two of the world's leading marketing research and consulting firms, Roper Starch Worldwide and Audits & Surveys Worldwide. For over 75 years, RoperASW has conducted public opinion polls and remains one of most respected names in the business.

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