Recreational Programmes for Adult Men Based on Cluster Analysis of Survey Indicators

A physically active lifestyle has many well-documented benefits. However, we are witnessing an epidemic of sedentary behaviour. Voluntary physical activity, i.e. recreational physical activity, has thus assumed central importance in satisfying the physical activity needs of humans. In order to tailor intervention programmes more individually, a 38-item questionnaire was designed to acquire information on how adult men spend their free time. The goal was to see if any grouping criteria may induce the grouping of the members of a wide male population into certain sub-population groups with recognizable demographic, social and material characteristics, particular health-related issues and specific attitudes towards free time and the way of spending it. The sample was comprised of 319 adult healthy men, from 19 to 67 years of age, from Central Bosnia. The cluster analysis, a method of multivariate hierarchical grouping with Euclidian distances, was used. Six distinct clusters were obtained: first cluster – 18 % of subjects, age 36.2 yrs, most married, positively oriented towards physically active lifestyle, scarcely take medication, no health-related discomforts; second cluster – 35 % of subjects, age 38.6 yrs, married, several children, would like to be more physically active because they are informed about the importance of exercise, but they are not very active and their discomforts are rather pronounced; third cluster – 9 % of subjects, age 28.9 yrs, no marital or parental obligations, not physically active with negative attitudes towards an active lifestyle, under high stress, but feel no discomforts; fourth cluster – 25 % of subjects, age 36.5 yrs, married, a smaller number of children, moderate values in all variables, except for the variables of health discomforts: the value is the highest in the entire sample; fifth cluster – 6 % of subjects, age 45.5 yrs, the oldest in the sample, married, have many children, physical activity is not important to them, they hardly feel any discomforts probably due to the many medications they take; sixth cluster – 7 % of subjects, age 24.8 yrs, no marital or parental obligations, not satisfied either with job no income, no prescribed medication and satisfied with their health status, but unexpectedly very high levels of reported health discomforts. Adequate intervention recreational and sporting activity programmes are proposed in accordance to the features of each cluster. Generally, a lack of information about the crucial role of a physically active lifestyle was observed throughout the clusters, as well as evident passive, consuming-absorbed attitudes towards free time. The previously active athletes in the third cluster were the only exception. The study has provided preliminary evidence for feasibility and value of using a cluster method approach to the identification of typologies of the adult male population. Much effort of expert kinesiologists, and of the broader community and mass media as well, must be invested in the promotion of physical activity, education for active and self-responsible living and in intervention strategies for changing the state of passivity.