Paper Title
Exercise Behavior and Health Status of AKHA People in MAE SUAI District, Chiang RAI Province
Abstract
This quantitative study aimed to survey the exercise behaviors and health status of Akha people in Mae Suai
district, Chiang Rai province, Thailand. The respondents were 200 Akha people who could communicate and agreed to
cooperate with the study. The research instruments were questionnaire and health circle devices such as sphygmomanometer,
stethoscope, and body weighing device. Frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used for data analysis.
The research results revealed that most of the samples had no chronic disease but high level of systolic blood pressure (SBP)
was shown. The diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate and BMI were in normal range. However, the sample group
should be take care by health officers because of their high level of SBP. Exercise behaviors analysis of Akha people showed
that, firstly, Akha people always exercise not immediately after meal which was found at the good level (X
¯
±S.D. = 2.94 ±
0.24). Secondly, Akha people usually exercise not until getting injured which was found at the good level (X
¯
±S.D. = 2.93 ±
0.26). And, finally, Akha people exercise less than 3 days a week which was found at the lowest level. However, the overall
exercise behaviors were found at the fair level.
Keywords - Exercise Behavior, Health Status, Ethnic Groups