Influence of multidimensional determinants on physical activity behavior: a perspective from health promotion and behavior change theories.

Authors

Guiming Zhang, Kai Chen, Guosheng Ding

Published in

Frontiers in public health. Volume 14. Pages 1865453. Epub Jun 25, 2026.

Abstract

It is widely recognized that the provision of sports facilities plays an important role in shaping individuals' physical activity behavior. However, existing studies have often focused on isolated facility attributes such as facility density or accessibility, while paying limited attention to facility diversity and quality, and many have not been explicitly guided by health promotion or behavior change theories. To address these gaps, this study conducts a questionnaire survey in five representative cities in China to examine the associations between multidimensional determinants and physical activity behavior within a theory informed analytical framework. Specifically, facility type diversity, facility quantity, facility quality, and facility accessibility are examined as core explanatory variables, together with individual characteristics, social environment factors, and health awareness, in relation to exercise frequency, exercise intensity, and exercise duration. Guided by health promotion theory and behavior change theory, the study applies descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis, heterogeneity analysis, and robustness tests. The results indicate that: (1) facility type diversity, facility quantity, and facility quality are significantly and positively associated with exercise frequency, exercise intensity, and exercise duration, whereas facility accessibility shows a significant negative association with these activity behavior indicators; (2) with respect to individual characteristics, older age is associated with lower exercise participation, while males, civil servants, retirees, and individuals with higher income and educational attainment exhibit higher levels of physical activity; (3) in terms of the social environment, a supportive family exercise atmosphere and abundant community sports activities significantly promote people's physical activity behavior; and (4) regarding health awareness, its effect on activity behavior is particularly strong, with individuals who have greater health awareness being more actively engaged in physical activity.

PMID:
42428922
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Jul 2026.

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