Firefighters Are More Physically Active On-Duty Compared to Off-Duty

Allison M. Barry, Katie L. Lyman, Nathan D. Dicks, Christi R. McGeorge, Michael J. Carper and Tanis J. Walch
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Allison M. Barry: Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS 66762, USA
Katie L. Lyman: Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, USA
Nathan D. Dicks: Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Exercise Science, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN 56562, USA
Christi R. McGeorge: Department of Human Development and Family Science, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58108, USA
Michael J. Carper: Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS 66762, USA
Tanis J. Walch: Education, Health, and Behavior Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-8

Abstract: Physical inactivity, coupled with increasing obesity levels, in firefighters plays a key role in aggregated cardiovascular events. The purpose of this study was to investigate device-measured physical activity (PA) for firefighters while on- and off-duty to have a clearer understanding of their overall PA level. Methods: Twenty-nine career firefighters participated in this non-experimental, within-subjects study by wearing an accelerometer to assess PA intensities and step-count. Obesity was classified using body mass index (BMI). Dependent t -tests were used to examine mean differences in PA intensities when on- and off-duty. Pearson product-moment correlations were used to assess the association between PA intensities when on and off-duty. Results: According to the World Health Organization BMI categorizations, 20 firefighters were overweight, 9 were obese, and, thus, none were normal weight. Only light PA (LPA) was statistically significant ( p = 0.026) for on- and off-duty days with a small-to-medium effect size ( d = 0.47), meaning that on average, firefighters performed more minutes of LPA when on-duty compared to off. There was a significant difference between on- (9060.2 ± 2636.4) and off-duty (7495.3 ± 2835.8) daily step counts ( p = 0.011). Conclusion: As the results demonstrate, there is a dire need for increased PA levels in firefighters while on- and off-duty.

Keywords: firefighters; physical activity; BMI; obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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