A Cross-Sectional Study Exploring the Physical Activity Levels of Afghans and Other South Asian Youth in the UK

Ayazullah Safi (), Irfan Khawaja, Peter Collins and Tony Myers
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Ayazullah Safi: Centre for Nutraceuticals, School of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, London W1W 6UW, UK
Irfan Khawaja: Department of Sport and Exercise, School of Health Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B15 3TN, UK
Peter Collins: Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY, UK
Tony Myers: Department of Social Science, Sport and Business, Newman University, Birmingham B32 3NT, UK

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-11

Abstract: Introduction: Participating in regular physical activity (PA) has numerous benefits, such as reducing obesity, chronic degenerative conditions, and depression. Despite many health-related benefits, physical inactivity is increasing in young people worldwide, especially in ethnic minority groups, such as British South Asians (BSAs). The aim of this study was to explore the PA levels of BSAs, specifically focusing on youth from Afghan, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Indian groups. Methods: A total of 191 (Afghans N = 44; Bangladeshi N = 39; Indian N = 56, Pakistani N = 52) youth from the West Midlands (UK) participated in this study (mean age 15.4 ± 0.5). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form was used to measure PA levels. Data were modelled using a Bayesian approach to determine differences in PA levels. Results: The results indicated that 88.5% Afghans, 80% Bangladeshi, 78.6% Indians and 63% Pakistani reported engaging in <30 min of PA per day. Additionally, boys were more active than girls across all ethnic groups. Discussion: This study highlighted an alarmingly low proportion of young people from each BSA ethnic group meeting the PA guidelines. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore and compare PA levels of the young British Afghan population, thus contributing novel findings to the area of BSA PA. Conclusion: Overall, the vast majority of BSA young people failed to meet the recommended PA guidelines of 60 min per day. Future research could utilise objective methods, such as Global Positioning System, pedometers and accelerometery to track and monitor PA levels, and could adopt an ecological approach to explore determinants of PA within each ethnic and gender group.

Keywords: physical activity level; British South Asian; young people; ethnic minority; health (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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