Social and Health Characteristics of Active Adults in Israel

Background: Regular physical activity serves as a primary and secondary prevention measure for numerous chronic diseases and health conditions. Previous surveys indicated that a relatively small percentage of Israeli adults reach the recommended levels of leisure-time physical activity.

Aims: 1) To assess current rates of compliance with recommendations for physical activity among adults in Israel (defined as `active`), according to gender, age and population group; 2) To identify associations between `activity` and other lifestyle behaviors.

Methods: This study was based on a cross-sectional telephone survey, the Third Israeli National Health Interview Survey (INHIS 3), carried out by the Israel Center for Disease Control (ICDC) in 2013-2015, on a random representative sample of the Israeli adult population (n=4,406). The participants were asked about their leisure time physical activity, health status and health-related behaviors.

Two-tailed χ2 analyses were conducted to examine bivariate associations between physical activity, socio-demographic and health characteristics, and health-related behaviors. Logistic regression models were run.

Results: The overall rate of `active` respondents was 35.2%; 41.0% in men, 29.6% in women. In logistic regression models, `active` respondents were more likely to be men (OR=1.61), Jewish (OR=1.84), aged 65+ (OR=1.49), with 12 school years (OR=1.89), non-obese (OR=1.48), report good health (OR=2.25), non-smokers (OR=1.89), eat ≥5 vegetables and fruits/day (OR=1.62) and have routine cholesterol check-ups (OR=1.38).

Conclusion: Physically active individuals tend to adhere to other behaviors consistent with healthy lifestyles. Health promotion efforts directed toward population groups at risk could impact on such behaviors in addition to improving rates of physical activity.