Physical Activity and Health Behaviours in an Ageing Scottish Population

Physical activity frequency declines with age across all intensities
Physical activity frequency is higher in the less deprived SIMD quartiles (Q2, Q3 and Q4) than in Q1 (most deprived)
Physical activity frequency is highest in Q3, and different from all other SIMD quartiles when examining moderate and vigorous activities • Physical activity frequency for light activity (walking >10mins) is highest in the least deprived SIMD quartile
Physical activity frequency is higher at all intensities in males than females
Age effects are not strongly evident in reported sitting time, but the most sitting time occurred in the 85-89 age band
Sitting time is highest in the most deprived SIMD quartile (Q1) and lowest in Q3
Females report sitting less than males
Perceptions of activity guidelines for a healthy lifestyle are much higher than the current minimum recommendations
The reported number of days on which vigorous activity was performed did not associate with other health behaviours such as smoking, or fruit and vegetable consumption, but showed a moderate positive association with alcohol consumption in the last 7 days
Odds ratios reveal that active respondents have significantly higher odds of several other positive health behaviours such as cancer screening, and report fewer self-reported health problems than inactive respondents