Social support in workers’ physical activity

Objective To analyze the role of formal and informal social support in the practice of physical activity during workers’ leisure time. Methods A cross-sectional study carried out with 395 technical administrative workers at a public university. Data were collected using sociodemographic questionnaire, Baecke Habitual Physical Activity Questionnaire and Physical Activity and Social Support Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Student’s t test, Cohen’s d test and Analysis of Variance. Results Participants who reported some type of support for physical activity in their leisure time (92.2%) had higher means in the physical activity score. Institutional support (58.0%) had a prominent role as a potential influencer compared to support from immediate superiors (14.2%), although they had a certain differential among maintenance workers. Conclusion Social support plays an important role in promoting physical activity in workers’ leisure time. Institutional initiatives to encourage active behavior in the work environment need to be aligned with encouragement by immediate superiors so that they are more effective.