Improving Farmer Health:
A Call for Volunteers for New Study
Fitter Farmers? A comparison of physical activity levels in agricultural, regional and urban workforces
The National Centre for Farmer Health is seeking participants for a new study to investigate just how active Victorian farmers are.
Exercise is increasingly recognised as being protective against chronic disease, and beneficial to mental health. However, little is known about physical activity levels of farmers, or how they compare to other workforces. This means that the development of effective physical activity programs or recommendations to improve farmer health and prevent disease is challenging.
The ‘Fitter Farmers’ study is seeking full-time workers over the age of 18, from one of three groups:
- Farm-based agricultural workers located within 150km of Hamilton, Victoria
- Regional workers employed within Western District Health Service or ANZ regional branches
- Urban workers, who work in the Geelong or Melbourne areas
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to wear a FitBit and an ActivPal physical activity tracker. Over a 7-day period, the devices will record time spent in sitting, standing and stepping activities. You will also be asked to complete two 30-minute interviews, to keep track of what type of activities you do in a normal work day.
We hope that with your help we can find out more about the levels of physical activity of agricultural and regional workers in Victoria, and develop better health programs for Australian farmers.
Further information and application
If you have any questions, or would like to speak with the research team about joining the Fitter Farmers project, please get in touch.
Dr Vanessa Vaughan
Researcher
School of Medicine
Deakin University Tel (03) 5551 8533
v.vaughan@deakin.edu.au