Physical activity in Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore

A population based survey has measured levels of physical activity by questionnaire in persons aged 18 to 69 years in Singapore. Levels of physical activity were classified into high, medium and low based on activity in leisure and at work. The only ethnic difference was that for males a higher proportion were classified as "high" activity in Malays (24.8%) than Chinese (16.0%) and Indians (18.1%). For the overall 18 to 69 age group, it was found that for males, the proportions in the "low" category were Chinese 80%, Malays 70% and Indians 75% while for females it was 95% in all three ethnic groups. As physical activity of sufficient intensity is important in disease prevention and health promotion, more needs to be done on educating the public in Singapore about the benefits of regular exercise.