ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2020
Physical activity and sedentary time in a rural adult population in Malawi compared with an age-matched US urban population.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- The risk of dietary multiple micronutrient inadequacies is widespread and geographically varied in Malawi.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Prevalence of protein, lysine, and tryptophan inadequacy and their relation to stunting among Malawian under five children: evidence from the 2019/20 Integrated Household Survey.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Article
- Low-to-Moderate Daytime Physical Activities Predicted Higher-Quality Sleep Among Habitually Active Agropastoralists.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Characterizing daily physical activity patterns with unsupervised learning via functional mixture models.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Quantifying population levels of physical activity in Africa using wearable sensors: implications for global physical activity surveillance.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2020Article
- Why are COVID-19 effects less severe in Sub-Saharan Africa? Moving more and sitting less may be a primary reason.Progress in cardiovascular diseasesArticle
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis study was designed to assess patterns of objectively measured physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour in a sample of adults in a rural setting from a low-income Sub-Saharan African country (Malawi). The patterns of PA and sedentary behaviour in Malawi were compared with US data collected and analysed using the same methodology.
methodsThe Malawi PA data were collected as part of a survey experiment on the measurement of agricultural labor conducted under the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study program. ActiGraph accelerometers (model GT3X) were worn on the right hip in a household-based sample of 414 working-age adults (15-85 years).
resultsMean total and 95% CIs for PA by category in min/day for Malawi adults were: sedentary 387.6 (377.4-397.8), low-light 222.1 (214.7-229.5), high-light 136.3 (132.7-139.9), moderate 71.6 (68.8-74.5), vigorous 1.1 (0.5-1.8) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) 72.8 (69.7-75.9). Mean of PA and sedentary behavior (min/day) summed across age and sex groups are compared between Malawi and US samples: sedentary behaviour, 387.6 vs 525.8 (p<0.001); low-light, 222.1 vs 217.0 (p=ns); high-light, 136.3 vs 45.6 (p<0.001); moderate, 71.6 vs 28.0 (p<0.001); vigorous, 1.1 vs 2.5 (p<0.001); MVPA, 72.8 vs 30.5 (p<0.001). Compared with the USA, Malawi participants averaged consistently less sedentary time/day and more minutes/day in all intensity levels of PA, except for low-light and vigorous PA.
conclusionOverall, levels of MVPA and high-light activity in adults in Malawi were substantially higher and sedentary time was substantially lower than those observed in US samples using near identical data collection, scoring and analysis.
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