Assessment of physical activity levels in South Asians in the UK: findings from the Health Survey for England

Abstract

Background South Asians in the UK experience high rates of coronary heart disease compared with other ethnic groups. Behavioural risk factors such as physical inactivity have been explored as possible explanations for this trend. However, there have been few comprehensive accounts describing physical activity levels of this ethnic group. Methods Data from the Health Survey for England (1999–2004) on 5421 South Asians and 8974 white participants aged 18–55 years were used to compare physical activity levels. Analyses of covariance tested the association between ethnicity and self-reported total physical activity metabolic equivalents of task (MET) scores, adjusting for age, sex, self-reported health, adiposity and socioeconomic status. Results Total MET-min/week were consistently lower in UK South Asians than in white participants (973 vs 1465 MET-min, pConclusions Physical activity levels are very low in UK South Asians; this is consistent across all examined population subsets. Physical inactivity is likely to contribute to their high risk of coronary heart disease. Increasing physical activity in all UK South Asians should be a public health priority for health professionals.