Times in physical activity and sedentary behavior associated with awareness and knowledge of the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans

Objective: In this study, we examined the associations between awareness and knowledge of the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and device-based measures of physical activity (PA). Methods: Overall, 222 college students participated in the current study. Based on their awareness and knowledge of the 2008 Guidelines, the participants were categorized into 3 groups: don't know, awareness only, and knowledge. We used 2 questions for identifying awareness and knowledge of government PA guidelines. Accelerometers were employed to evaluate times spent in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA). Comparison among the 3 groups was conducted for total time spent in MVPA using one-way Welch ANOVA. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the average time of MVPA by the knowledge of the 2008 Guidelines (p = .035). The knowledge group had a greater average time of MVPA com-pared to the other 2 groups; we found no statistically significant difference in MVPA between the awareness only and don't know groups. Conclusion: Knowledge of the 2008 Guidelines was positively associated with PA levels among college students. More effective dissemination of PA guidelines would appear to be warranted in promoting PA.Peer reviewedCommunity Health Sciences, Counseling and Counseling Psycholog