Promoting Physical Activity among Working Women: The Influence of Perceived Policy Effectiveness and Health Awareness

Huilin Wang, Ziqing Xu, Jingyu Yang and Dan Huang ()
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Huilin Wang: School of Business, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
Ziqing Xu: International College, National Institute of Development Administration, Bangkok 10240, Thailand
Jingyu Yang: Department of Medical Bioinformatics, University of Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Dan Huang: School of Physical Education, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: In recent years, patients with chronic diseases have shown a younger trend due to physical inactivity and irregular lifestyles. Accordingly, the Chinese government has implemented the “National Fitness Program”, which aims to enhance people’s health by popularizing exercise and a healthy lifestyle. However, women are less physically active than men, and how to appeal to women to devote themselves to fitness activities has become a social concern. Based on the expanded theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study explores the impact of the perceived policy effectiveness and health awareness on physical activity among working women. This study adopted a repeated cross-sectional study method, and each respondent was asked to complete a two-stage survey. The structural model of the extended TPB was tested using sample data from 376 working women in Changsha, China. The results show that perceived policy effectiveness and health awareness positively affect actual behavioral control and implementation intention. Among them, perceived policy effectiveness has the most significant impact on implementation intention, followed by health awareness. Furthermore, actual behavioral control and implementation intention mediate the relationship between perceived policy effectiveness/health awareness and physical activity. The findings suggest that to promote physical activity among working women, the Chinese government should deepen the implementation of the “National Fitness Program” and raise the public’s health awareness.

Keywords: working women; physical activity; perceived policy effectiveness; health awareness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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