Participants at Norwegian Healthy Life Centres: Who are they, why do they attend and how are they motivated? A cross-sectional study.

AIMS: We examine the characteristics of participants entering Norwegian Healthy Life Centres, their reasons for attending and whether socio-economic status, motivation, self-efficacy and social support relate to physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study is part of a randomised controlled trial. Inclusion criteria are that participants should be ≥ 18 years old and able to take part in a physical activity group intervention. Exclusion criteria are severe mental illness and general learning disability. We analysed data using simple and multiple linear regression analyses.

RESULTS: We recruited 118 participants from eight Norwegian municipalities between June 2014 and September 2015. Of these, 77% were female, mean (standard deviation) age 48.6 (13.4) years, body mass index 34.0 (5.8) kg/m2 and mean gross family income €61,000. The proportion of participants with upper-secondary school or less as their highest level of education was 55%. The most frequent reasons given for attendance at Healthy Life Centres were being overweight, increasing physical activity, improving diet and having musculoskeletal health challenges. Participants had high levels of autonomous motivation and 79% achieved national recommendations for physical activity. Respect and appreciation in childhood, self-esteem and self-rated health were associated with self-efficacy and social support for physical activity.

CONCLUSIONS: Participants were predominantly obese, physically active, female and motivated for change. A high proportion had low educational attainment and low incomes. The trial will reveal whether interventions succeed in increasing physical activity further, or in decreasing sedentary behaviour, and whether health inequalities narrow or widen across groups.