Effects of gender, education and health communication on the regularity of physical exercise: a 2016 Vietnamese cross-section survey

Nowadays, physical exercise and sports activities are regarded as the best means for people to keep fit and boost their health. In Vietnam, exercising on a daily basis is still underappreciated as twothirds of the population only exercise at trivial or low levels. Based on applying the baseline category logit model, we conduct an analysis to figure out the factors affecting people’s level of exercise. The findings show that males tend to engage in physical activities more than females, with the difference potentially being as high as 18.9%. In addition, females with a high educational background (university or higher) usually exercise less than those with lower education, perhaps due to their job’s attributes and their different routines. The opposite is the case in males, yet the differences for both genders are relatively small (only about 1%). The study also shows that those with higher BMI have higher activity levels. In particular, those with the highest BMI (BMI = 37.2) have a likelihood of regularly exercising as high as 74%. Furthermore, improved health communication systems and regular health check-ups at home are also associated with more frequent exercise and engagement in sport.