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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1488115
This article is part of the Research Topic Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Health Inequality: Vulnerability of Marginalized Populations View all articles

Impact of Ambient Air Pollution on Physical Activity Engagement Among University Students

Provisionally accepted
Kampanat Wangsan Kampanat Wangsan 1,2Jinjuta Panumasvivat Jinjuta Panumasvivat 1,2*Thiti Usanakul Thiti Usanakul 3Vorapat Sirivoravith Vorapat Sirivoravith 3Supanut Rojanachai Supanut Rojanachai 3Natchapol Zheng Natchapol Zheng 3Chonlathee Boontan Chonlathee Boontan 4Ratana Sapbamrer Ratana Sapbamrer 1,2
  • 1 Environmental and Occupational Medicine Excellence Center (EnOMEC), Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • 2 Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • 3 Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • 4 Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: PM2.5 poses significant health risks with prolonged exposure, potentially reducing physical activity levels. This study aims to investigate the impact of ambient PM2.5 levels on physical activity engagement among individuals.The retrospective cross-sectional study involved 423 students from Chiang Mai University residing there between January and August 2023. We used the validated Thai version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire to assess physical activity intensity during high and low pollution periods. Individuals who engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of high-intensity physical activity per week meet the recommended physical activity guidelines.Cochran's Q test compared activity levels across pollution periods.Results: Recommended physical activity prevalence was 76.36% during high PM2.5 and 71.63% during low PM2.5 periods, it showed higher physical activity during polluted periods (p = 0.049). Individuals' behavior showed a preference for indoor exercise (p < 0.001), consistent PM2.5 level checks (p < 0.001) during high PM2.5 periods. Internal motivation significantly associated with recommended physical activity in both low and high PM2.5 periods (aOR = 2.46, 95%CI = 1.14 -5.27 and aOR = 4.00, 95%CI = 1.84 -8.70, respectively). The outdoor exercise significantly associated with the recommended physical activity only during the low PM2.5 period (aOR = 1.72, 95%CI = 1.03 -2.87).University students showed increased physical activity intensity during high PM2.5 periods, favoring indoor exercise in polluted environments. This behavioral shift highlights environmental pollution's influence on lifestyle choices and cornering on health outcomes.Government and university support is crucial for implementing measures to mitigate PM2.5 pollution, including promoting safe indoor exercise, enhancing pollution control measures, and developing air quality monitoring and warning systems.

    Keywords: physical activity, PM2.5, Air Pollution, university students, Motivation

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 23 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wangsan, Panumasvivat, Usanakul, Sirivoravith, Rojanachai, Zheng, Boontan and Sapbamrer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jinjuta Panumasvivat, Environmental and Occupational Medicine Excellence Center (EnOMEC), Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

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