Assessment, Development &Validation of Physical Activity in Three Ethnic Groups

It has been shown that physical activity is protective against several cancers, including cancers of the breast and colon and there is growing evidence that activity may be protective against lung, pancreatic and prostate cancer. While ethnic differences in activity patterns may be responsible for disparities in cancer rates, there is little good population based data on activity patterns and levels across ethnic groups. The limited data that is available shows that African Americans and Hispanics are less active than Caucasians and that women are less active than men. These studies treat ethnicity very broadly and focus only on leisure time activity. However, occupational activity, household activity, and walking activity may be important elements of overall activity in urban, ethnic minority and immigrant populations. Additionally, there are currently no in-depth survey questionnaires that have been developed and validated in ethnic minority and immigrant populations. The goal of this proposal is to begin to remedy these deficiencies. We will collect and compare 24-hour recall data on physical activity data from three ethnic groups: US-born African Americans, individuals of African descent from the English-speaking Caribbean and US-born European Americans. These data will be used to develop and validate a survey questionnaire that can be used in these populations to assess average weekly physical activity.