46
L. D’Arcy et al.
3.2 Question Development
The aims of the study were outlined to identify the information required, which helped
develop the types of questions to be included. The questionnaire was split into seven
sections, including weight management, dietary habits, physical activity, occupation,
workwear, functional clothing and personal information. The questionnaire used
terminology that would be inclusively understood by a wide population, for example
‘metabolic energy consumption’ was referred to as ‘burning calories’.
1. Weight management. The first section was dedicated to weight management.
The questions were developed to understand women’s current weight motivations;
whether they were trying to lose weight, maintain weight, gain weight, or not
managing their weight at all.
2. Dietary habits. The dietary habits section aimed to understand how women
managed their diet. Respondents were asked if they were aware of their calorie
intake and if so, how many calories they consumed per day (kcal/d), if they felt
they consumed more calories than they expended and how they managed their diet.
Diet management responses included a range of dietary regimens from calorie focus
to intermittent fasting. This section also allowed for identifying those who were
members of established weight management programmes.
3. Physical activity. Physical activity was introduced and defined in Sect. 3 as “any
bodily movement produced by the skeletal muscles that uses energy” [29] and was
broken down into three types of activity including (1) exercise: any type of physical activity that you engage in during your leisure time that is planned, structured,
repetitive and intentional [29], (2) work-related activity: the physical activity you
engage in during working hours, in the workplace and (3) commuting: the physical
activity you engage in whilst travelling to and from work/education. The types of
physical activity were explained to participants before self-reporting their activity
levels to avoid misinterpretation. For example, a respondent may submit walking
to work as exercise instead of commuting physical activity. By splitting the types
of physical activity, the researcher could gain further insight into the environment
the respondent was active in. Respondents were then asked if they engaged in any
exercise, as defined, with non-exercisers skipping this section.
Exercisers were asked to self-report their exercise mode, frequency and duration.
Exercise mode was used to determine the types of activities and movements undertaken by the participant. Respondents chose up to 3 of the 47 activities listed. Exercise
frequency was measured against times per week and included options from once to
14 times per week, to allow for those who may exercise twice per day. The duration
was measured against each session and included 15 min variables from < 15 min to
> 2 h. Respondents were also asked if they tracked their physical activity and their
method of tracking to understand whether the quantifying activity was important to
them.
Participants were asked to rank their motivations and barriers to exercise using
a five-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The questions
L. D’Arcy et al.
3.2 Question Development
The aims of the study were outlined to identify the information required, which helped
develop the types of questions to be included. The questionnaire was split into seven
sections, including weight management, dietary habits, physical activity, occupation,
workwear, functional clothing and personal information. The questionnaire used
terminology that would be inclusively understood by a wide population, for example
‘metabolic energy consumption’ was referred to as ‘burning calories’.
1. Weight management. The first section was dedicated to weight management.
The questions were developed to understand women’s current weight motivations;
whether they were trying to lose weight, maintain weight, gain weight, or not
managing their weight at all.
2. Dietary habits. The dietary habits section aimed to understand how women
managed their diet. Respondents were asked if they were aware of their calorie
intake and if so, how many calories they consumed per day (kcal/d), if they felt
they consumed more calories than they expended and how they managed their diet.
Diet management responses included a range of dietary regimens from calorie focus
to intermittent fasting. This section also allowed for identifying those who were
members of established weight management programmes.
3. Physical activity. Physical activity was introduced and defined in Sect. 3 as “any
bodily movement produced by the skeletal muscles that uses energy” [29] and was
broken down into three types of activity including (1) exercise: any type of physical activity that you engage in during your leisure time that is planned, structured,
repetitive and intentional [29], (2) work-related activity: the physical activity you
engage in during working hours, in the workplace and (3) commuting: the physical
activity you engage in whilst travelling to and from work/education. The types of
physical activity were explained to participants before self-reporting their activity
levels to avoid misinterpretation. For example, a respondent may submit walking
to work as exercise instead of commuting physical activity. By splitting the types
of physical activity, the researcher could gain further insight into the environment
the respondent was active in. Respondents were then asked if they engaged in any
exercise, as defined, with non-exercisers skipping this section.
Exercisers were asked to self-report their exercise mode, frequency and duration.
Exercise mode was used to determine the types of activities and movements undertaken by the participant. Respondents chose up to 3 of the 47 activities listed. Exercise
frequency was measured against times per week and included options from once to
14 times per week, to allow for those who may exercise twice per day. The duration
was measured against each session and included 15 min variables from < 15 min to
> 2 h. Respondents were also asked if they tracked their physical activity and their
method of tracking to understand whether the quantifying activity was important to
them.
Participants were asked to rank their motivations and barriers to exercise using
a five-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The questions