Physical Activity Practices among American Black Working Women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate lifelong patterns of physical activity and processes of managing physical activity among 24 employed American Black women using ethnographic methods of intensive interviewing and participant observation. This naturalistic field study was framed by a cultural-ecological orientation focusing on understanding and describing individual/environmental transactions influencing physical activity practices. Physical activity, shaped by early family experiences and later peer group activities, was defined as routine activities of everyday life and consciously planned and practiced exercise. In adulthood, alternating periods of physical activity and sedentariness were common.