College of Public Health and Human Sciences

Background

The aim of this study was to examine the potential relationship between
Asian/Asian-American immigrants’ length of residence in the U.S. and their leisure-time
physical activity behavior.

Methods

Data were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey (NHANES, 2013–2014). Among 1,074 non-Hispanic Asian/Asian-American participants, 541 (female = 287, male = 254) were >20 years of age (M = 48.51, SD = 15.22),
not born in the U.S., and they reported their physical activity data. Results: Binary logistic
regression was used to estimate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of reporting participation in leisure-time, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). After
adjusting for age, gender, income, and education level, those living in the U.S. increased
their odds of participating in MVPA. Specifically, compared to those who had been in the
U.S. for <1 year, those who had been in the U.S. for 1–4 years, 5–9 years, 10–20 years,
and >20 increased their odds of MVPA participation by 145%, 139%, 189%, and 293%,
respectively, with p values being marginally significant for 10–20 years p = 0.06, and significant for more than 20 years, p = 0.02.

Conclusions

This set of observations implies that there may be positive features in
American culture in terms of facilitating Asian/Asian-American adults’ MVPA as their
length of residence in America increased. Gaining deeper insights into precisely what
those features are and design targeted physical activity promotion program should be
the focus of the future research.