Physical activity and health implications of the ciclorecreovia program in Chile

Abstract

Background: With approximately 66% of the population overweight and nearly 90% with sedentary lifestyles, obesity has become a major public health problem in Chile. Thus, in the last fifteen years health policies have promoted active lifestyles. An interesting initiative in this context is the CicloRecreoVia program, which closes a set of public streets on Sunday mornings, allowing people to carry out PA in streets free of vehicles. Aim: To characterize PA and mobility patterns of participants of the CicloRecreoVia program in Santiago. Material and Methods: 401 participants of five circuits of the CicloRecreoVia surveyed on the type, frequency and durantion of the PA carried out, their daily mobility habits, motivations for attending the CicloRecreoVia, self-perceived health condition, among other aspects. Results: Participants spent 113 minutes in the CicloRecreoVia, 77% declared walking or bicycling at least 10 minutes per day and 56.7% traveled actively (bicycling or walking) at least four times per week. Finally, 69.1% perceived their health condition “better” or “much better” than one year ago. In addition, it was noted that CicloRecreoVías attracted different type of participants depending on their location in the city. Conclusions: In line with previous studies, most users achieve about 75% of the weekly PA recommended by attending the CicloRecreoVía, and the main motivations to attend the program were to make PA, to be outdoor and to socialize. As a result, the CicloRecreoVía has the potential to become an effective public nationwide health policy to combat obesity.