An ecological approach to physical activity in African American women.

Physical activity in women has assumed increasing significance as a policy issue as a result of the release of the 1996 Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health. This report revealed that women in the United States were less likely than men to adhere to the recommended guidelines for physical activity. African American women are less likely than white women to participate in leisure time physical activity across age, occupational, and income groups. The purpose of this study was to use the Ecological Model of Health Promotion to explore policy, environmental, and individual factors influencing physical activity of middle- to older-aged African American women in a mixed income community in a large midwestern city. Focus group discussions were held with 3 groups of women -- administrators/community leaders, exercisers, and nonexercisers. Thirty-three women between the ages of 40 and 78 participated in the study. The women identified 6 themes influencing physical activity: perceptions of physical activity and exercise; perceived barriers to exercise; perceived benefits of and motivators to exercise; past and present opportunities for exercise; factors that enhance the successful delivery of an exercise program; and coalition building to deliver an exercise program to women in the community. The results of this study reveal that to successfully increase physical activity in an ethnic urban community, researchers and other concerned individuals need to collaborate at multiple ecological levels, with an initial emphasis on establishing coalitions between institutions, community groups, policy makers, and individuals.