Despite of the well-recognized benefits of regular
physical activity, there is evidence that large numbers
of people still reported to be inactive. Thus, it is
utmost importance to address the promotion of
physical activity among adult populations. Exploring
and understanding factors that explain why people are
active or inactive is of major importance in physical
activity research. Effective intervention strategies
aimed at increasing the prevalence of physical activity
will be partly dependent on a good understanding of
the factors that influence physical activity. Effectively,
interventions targeted to strong correlates of behaviour
should be more effective in changing behaviour, while
variables that are consistently uncorrelated with
physical activity seem to be poorer choices to target in
studies designed to understand or to increase physical
activity levels (Stead, Gordon and Angus, 2007).
Correlates of physical activity could be classified as
either: (i) demographic and biological factors,
(ii) psychological, cognitive, and emotional factors,
(iii) behavioral attributes and skills, (iv) social and cultural
factors, (v) physical environment factors and
(vi) physical activity characteristics. Correlates of
physical activity are personal, social and
environmental, have multiple dimensions and
influence physical activity behavior in multiple ways.
The non-modifiable demographic and biological
variables suggest the existence of subgroups of
relatively inactive adults that need to be target for
special intervention programs. Modifiable variables
identified in this review should guide the design of
interventions. Psychological, cognitive, and emotional
factors could be influenced through education and
social marketing campaigns in order to promote
physical activity. Environmental characteristics could
be improved by means of policy change. Moreover,
the literature reveals that multidisciplinary
interventions are the most efficient to increase
physical activity habits of a population (Kahn et al.,
2002). This highlights the need for an evaluation of
the interactive effects of psychosocial, cultural,
environmental and public policy influences on
physical activity forging a trans-disciplinary paradigm.