Association of social network size and composition with physical activity in Korean middle-aged adults

Physical activity (PA) is an established protective factor for many chronic diseases. Numerous studies have established positive relationships between social networks and PA. Accordingly, this study examined the relationship between social network structures (specifically the network size and the number and proportion of same-sex alters) and self-reported PA in Korean middle-age adults, where the term "alter" refers to a respondent's social network members.

We analyzed 8,092 participants of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center cohort. We assessed the association between each network structure variable and PA level using a linear regression model. Then, we employed logistic regression to evaluate associations between social network structure and adherence to guideline-recommended exercise levels. Socio-demographic factors and health status measures were used as covariates.

In both sexes, the social network size and proportion of same-sex network members showed positive relationships with total and moderate-to-vigorous PA. Notably, female participants with a greater number of kin were more likely to satisfy the recommended amount of total PA.

These findings suggest that large scale, same-sex intervention programs can help to achieve recommended PA regimens.