Find Physical Activity

Recommendations Confusing

The majority of Americans believe that physical activity plays a role in preventing

cancer. However, when asked which cancers physical activity helps to prevent, 68% of

respondents to the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 2003) said they

did not know, while fewer than 5% accurately identified colorectal cancer. Nearly

14% inaccurately said exercise helps to prevent all cancers, and 8% inaccurately said

lung cancer.

Promoting and enabling regular physical activity are important disease prevention

strategies in general,as exercise is beneficial for overall health,and especially in preventing

cardiovascular disease and diabetes. HINTS reveals another important intervention

strategy for cancer prevention efforts: targeting messages about exercise to those at

risk for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer mortality in the U.S.

Increasing physical activity is associated with a 40% reduction of risk of colon cancer.

Encouragingly, 64% of Americans report that they pay attention to physical activity

messages they hear in the media. A large majority of Americans (75%) say there are 

so many physical activity recommendations that it is hard to know which ones to

follow.When thinking about the last time they heard a recommendation about exercise,

42% said they did not change their behavior, 18% did change their behavior, and 39%

waited to get more information.When asked if, in the past year, they had seen, heard,

or read anything about physical activity and cancer, 68% of HINTS respondents said

they had not; 31% had (HINTS 2005).

In this HINTS Brief,we compare physically active and inactive people,and explore the

sociodemographic and information-seeking characteristics they possess.

Which types of cancer does physical activity help to prevent?

U.S. Population Perception of the Link between 

Physical Activity and Specific Cancers

Responses

68.2% Don’t know

13.7% All types of cancer

8.1% Lung cancer

4.5% Colon cancer

2.9% Other

1.5% Breast cancer

0.5% Prostate cancer

Estimated U.S. Population Percentage 

38.9% I waited to 

more info

18.4% I changed 

0.6% Don’t know

Inactive Adults

Identifying subgroups for interventio

In a HINTS study published in 2006, investigators cond

to obtain insight into the sociodemographic and inform

characteristics of active and inactive adults, by identifyi

inactive adults with distinct characteristics.

Compared to respondents who reported being physic

inactive respondents were

• older

• more likely to be women

• not married

• non-White

• less educated

• less likely to have a higher income

• less likely to live in metropolitan areas

• in poorer general health

• less likely to have health insurance

• more overweight

• less likely to believe exercise lowers cancer risk

• less likely to eat five or more servings of vegetables an

• more likely to have smoked 100 or more cigarettes in 

In terms of media exposure and information seeking, t

adults were less likely to have used the Internet, and le

attention to health messages in the media.They also w

hours of television per day and read newspapers and m

frequently than the physically active respondents to th

A highly inactive group of adults described in the study 

users” did not read the newspaper or pay attention to 

less educated, had low income, was more likely to be 

and did not have a regular healthcare provider or heal

Although this inactive group pays less attention to me

reached by telephone, which may be an important inte

for this group.

Quick Facts: per day to prevent adult weight gain, and 

90 minutes per day to prevent regaining w

• Work or leisure-time physical activity is linked to a 40% lower has been lost. risk of colon cancer. Both vigorous and moderate levels of

physical activity appear to reduce this risk. • Physical activity is connected with a lower 

cancer and possibly prostate and endomet

• The 2005 HHS/USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans and a

2002 Institute of Medicine report recommend at least 30 minutes • Approximately 25% of U.S. adults are

of moderate activity daily to improve health, up to 60 minutes completely sedentary.
How Can This Inform Your Work?

Americans seem to be getting the general message that exercise is beneficial for health, but acting on that knowledge re

challenge. Public understanding of the role of physical activity in cancer risk reduction is evident; however, people are un

which cancers can be prevented with exercise. Key implications from HINTS suggest that

• All adults, especially those at risk for developing colorectal cancer (because of family history or other relevant risk fac

could benefit from understanding physical activity recommendations and becoming regular exercisers.

• Hispanics, more than any other racial or ethnic group, are paying attention to and acting on physical activity recomme

they read or hear about.Their readiness to change could enhance targeted interventions.

• Women are looking for information about exercise online, and are likely to pay attention to messages aimed at increa

physical activity.

• Interventions aimed at substituting television watching with more active behaviors may be effective for the most phys

inactive adults.

• Some highly inactive groups have limited exposure to media channels and pay less attention to health messages throu

media.They may require intensive person-to-person communication efforts aimed at informing them about the health 

of increasing physical activity.

About HINTS

http://hints.cancer.gov

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) fielded the first Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) in 2002 and 2003, surveyin

Americans, and the second in 2005 surveying 5,586 Americans. HINTS was created to monitor changes in the rapidly evolving field o

communication.The survey data can be used to understand how adults 18 years and older use different communication channels to o

information for themselves and their loved ones, and to create more effective health communication strategies across populations.

HINTS Briefs provide a snapshot of noteworthy, data-driven research findings.They introduce population-level estimates for specific q

the survey and summarize significant research findings that are a result of analyzing how age, race, and gender influence specific outco

The Briefs are intended to highlight top-level findings derived from analyses reported more thoroughly in other venues and are not m

comprehensive reports.

Conclusions drawn from the Briefs are limited by the descriptive nature of the data presented and are not intended to replace HINT

scientific publications from which inferences may be more confidently derived. For contact information, complete access to all HINTS 

including statistics not included in this Brief (such as statistics for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander respondents) o

your own project using HINTS data, please visit the “Conduct HINTS Research” section of the HINTS Web site.

For More Information on Cancer

• Call the NCI Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER

• Visit http://cancer.gov 

• Order NCI publications at https://cissecure.nci.nih.gov/ncipubs/

References Used in This HINTS Brief

Atienza AA,Yaroch AL, Masse LC, Moser RP, Hesse BW, King AC. Identify

subgroups:The National Cancer Institute's Health Information National T

Am J Prev Med. 2006 Nov;31(5):383-90.

HHS/USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, http://www.healthierus

Healthy People 2010 Physical Activity and Fitness,

http://www.healthypeople.gov/Document/HTML/Volume2/22Physical.htm

NCI’s Cancer Trends Progress Report 2005, http://progressreport.cance

December 2006