The Japanese Association of School Health

Material

ISSN ONLINE : 1880-2400

[School Health Vol.2, 9-16, 2006]

The effects of an intervention program aimed at lifestyle modification on sedentary behavior in male students of a Japanese university

Hirokazu Arai *,**, Atsushi Kiuchi*, Tohoko Ishii***, Ryotaro Urai* and Tomohiro Nakamura*

  • *Section for Health-Related Physical Education, Faculty of Intellectual Property, Osaka Institute of Technology
  • Osaka Institute of Technology 5-16-1 Omiya, Asahi-ku, Osaka, Osaka 535-8585 Japan
  • ICB53570@nifty.com
  • **Center for the Study of Communication-Design, Osaka University
  • 1-1 Senri Expo Park, Suita, Osaka 565-0826 Japan
  • ***Osaka Occupational Health Service Center Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association
  • 2-3-8 Tosabori, Nishi-ku, Osaka, Osaka 550-0001 Japan

[Received November 17, 2005 ; Accepted April 19, 2006]

Keywords:
time spent on sedentary behavior, time spent on TV/PC use, decisional balance for exercise

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Abstracts

The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of an intervention program for lifestyle modification on male students of a Japanese university by considering the time spent on sedentary behavior and the use of TV/PC as a measure of sedentary behavior. Further, we examined the decisional balance for exercise, which was a correlational factor of physical inactivity. Seven hundred and eighty-eight male freshmen from an institute of technology in Japan were selected to serve as subjects (intervention group: 411 subjects; non-intervention group: 377 subjects). The program for the intervention group included: 1) out-of-class practical assignments that comprised three types of self-monitoring activities for the promotion of healthy behavior, 2) example-based lectures for improving decisional balance, and 3) providing education regarding behavioral strategy for negative thoughts on exercising. The subjects were rated twice, before and after the physical activity programs. The following variables were measured: 1) the time spent on sedentary behavior, 2) the time spent on use of TV/PC, and 3) the decisional balance for exercise. The results of the analyses suggest that the intervention group exhibited enhanced pros score for exercise as compared with non-intervention group. On the other hand, the time spent on sedentary behavior decreased and the use time of TV/PC increased in both the intervention and non-intervention groups. Namely, it was not proved that the intervention program for lifestyle modification was valid. In conclusion, the intervention program for lifestyle modification in this study did have inadequate positive effects with respect to the improvement of sedentary behavior in male students of a Japanese university. In the future, it is the intervention program for reducing sedentary behavior that needs to be improved.

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