Measurement of Physical Activity

Physical Activity
Measurement of physical activity in New Zealand

Physical activity is difficult to measure especially in surveys because people tend to overestimate their level of activity.

Nevertheless, surveys are the most practical way to get an indication of how active we are as a population. In recent years there has been much work to attempt to develop global and national standardised measurement instruments (questionnaires) of physical activity participation in national populations (population surveillance/monitoring). SPARC (and the former Hillary Commission) and the Ministry of Health have been fully engaged in this work.

Physical activity has five dimensions:

frequency (how often)

intensity (how much effort)

duration (how long)

type of activity (e.g. walking, cycling, netball, touch rugby, heavy lifting, mowing lawns); and

context (e.g leisure, occupational, transport, incidental).

Old SPARC and Ministry of Health Surveys only asked about leisure time physical activity and did not ask specifically about moderate and vigorous activity. There is now international consensus that all activity contexts should be measured and that intensity is important when considering the health benefits of activity.

The Ministry of Health and SPARC have worked closely to develop new questionnaires – a short form version for inclusion in the New Zealand Health Survey and a more detailed long form questionnaire for the New Zealand Sport and Physical Survey. The new questionnaires have been validated by Auckland University and a report on the implementation of the questionnaires is available from within SPARC or the Ministry of Health.

The New Zealand Sport and Physical Activity Survey is the main national physical activity survey that measures physical activity levels in New Zealand. This survey is run by SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand) on alternate years and asks detailed questions on people’s activity.

The Ministry of Health also includes a short set of physical activity questions as part of its New Zealand Health Survey. The last NZ Health Survey was undertaken in 2002/03. The 2002/03 survey used the new short set of validated physical activity questions that include moderate and vigorous physical activity undertaken in all settings not just sport and leisure.

1 Moy, K., McFarlane K., Scragg R and Robinson S. 2003. Validation of MOH-Short and SPARC-long Physical Activity Questionnaires. Final Report. November 2003. Report prepared for SPARC. Auckland: Auckland UniServices.

2 SPARC is the Government organisation responsible for monitoring physical activity in New Zealand.