What motivates German consumers to reduce their meat consumption? Identifying relevant beliefs.

High levels of meat consumption cause problems related to public health, the environment, and animal welfare. Therefore, it is crucial to improve our understanding of the drivers and barriers involved in reducing meat consumption. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we examined to what extent attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) affect intention and willingness to reduce meat consumption. In line with the TPB and going beyond existing literature, we also explored which specific beliefs determine these three constructs. In 2021, we conducted an online survey with a sample representative of the German population (N = 1093). Hierarchical regression models revealed that after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, the TPB constructs explained 55% of the variance in intention and 61% of the variance in willingness. Importantly, each of the three TPB constructs affected intention and willingness to reduce meat consumption, with attitude having the largest impact. Habit strength and past behavior in addition to the TPB constructs did not improve prediction. Multiple linear regression models showed that attitude was determined by the beliefs that reducing meat consumption leads to a healthier diet, a reduced risk of developing certain diseases, a more natural diet, and the feeling of missing meat. In contrast, environmental and animal welfare concerns showed no significant effect on attitude. Both family and friends contributed to the perceived social pressure. The beliefs of being able to prepare meat-free meals, having enough time to spend on one's diet, and being able to easily purchase meat substitutes led to higher PBC. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for intervention strategies and derive implications for future research.

Trends in educational disparities in preventive behaviours, risk perception, perceived effectiveness and trust in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

BACKGROUND: Educational disparities in health and health behaviours have always been relevant in public health research and are particularly challenging in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. First studies suggest that factors important for the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as prevention behaviour, risk perception, perceived effectiveness of containment measures, and trust in authorities handling the pandemic, vary by educational status. This study builds on recent debate by examining trends in absolute and relative educational disparities in these factors in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. METHODS: Data stem from four waves of the GESIS Panel surveyed between March and October 2020 in Germany (15,902 observations from 4,690 individuals). Trends in absolute and relative disparities were examined for preventive behaviour, risk perception, perceived effectiveness of COVID-19 containment measures, and trust in individuals and institutions handling the COVID-19 pandemic by educational status using sex, age, residence, nationality, children under 16 living in household, family status, household size, the Big Five Inventory, and income class as control factors. Descriptive statistics as well as unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models and random effects models were performed. RESULTS: We observed an initially rising and then falling trend in preventive behaviour with consistent and significant absolute and relative disparities with a lower preventive behaviour among low educated individuals. Indication of a U-shaped trend with consistent significantly lower values among lower educated individuals was found for risk perception, whereas perceived effectiveness and trust decreased significantly over time but did not significantly vary by educational status. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate persistent educational disparities in preventive behaviour and risk perception and a general decline in perceived effectiveness and trust in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. To address this overall downward trend and existing disparities, comprehensive and strategic management is needed to communicate the risks of the pandemic and the benefits of COVID-19 containment measures. Both must be adapted to the different needs of educational groups in particular in order to overcome gaps in preventive behaviour and risk perception by educational status.

Development and Validation of the Diet-Related Beliefs of Exercisers Scale.

Many exercise-based weight-loss interventions result in considerably less weight loss than predicted. One possible explanation could be that people have certain beliefs about the interplay of exercise and food that also influence their eating behavior, such as the belief that food is a reward for exercise. The current research outlines a systematic multiphase process to develop a psychometrically sound scale to assess these beliefs. In Study 1, regular exercisers (N = 520) completed an exploratory questionnaire on their beliefs related to diet and exercise. In Study 2 (N = 380), the factor structure of the newly developed scale was corroborated by confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, a test-retest (N = 166) was used to confirm reliability and stability. In sum, the Diet-Related Beliefs of Exercisers Scale with its four subscales ("Refrain from Eating," "Food as Reward," "Healthy Eating," and "Nutritional Replenishment") represents a valid and reliable measure of exercisers' diet-related beliefs.

Consumer perception and behaviour related to low-alcohol wine: do people overcompensate?

OBJECTIVE: Compared with standard wines, low-alcohol wines may have several social and health benefits. Innovative production processes have led to high-quality light wines. It is, however, unclear how consumers perceive and consume these alcohol-reduced wines. The current study aimed to investigate how people evaluate low-alcohol wine (Sauvignon Blanc) and if the reduction in alcohol and the information that a wine is low in alcohol influences consumption. DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial (RCT). SETTING: Participants were invited to a wine tasting and randomised into one of the three conditions: they either tasted a 'new white wine' (12·5 % alcohol content), a 'new low-alcohol white wine' (8·0 % alcohol content) or they tasted the low-alcohol wine but were not aware that the wine was reduced in alcohol (low-alcohol, blinded). PARTICIPANTS: Ninety participants (42 % male, mean age = 41 (sd 14) years). RESULTS: Mean comparisons showed similar ratings for the low-alcohol conditions and the standard alcohol condition (mean > 5·6/7). The mean consumed amount across all conditions did not differ (162 (sd 71) ml, (F2,86 = 0·43, P > 0·05)), hence people who tasted the low-alcohol wine consumed approximately 30 % less alcohol. However, participants were willing to pay more for the normal wine compared with the low-alcohol wine, (F2,87 = 3·14, P < 0·05). CONCLUSIONS: Participants did not alter their drinking behaviour in response to the reduced alcohol content, and the low-alcohol wine was perceived positively. There might be an emerging market potential for wine of reduced alcohol content, but consumers may not be willing to pay the same price as for the standard wine.

The Multiple Food Test: Development and validation of a new tool to measure food choice and applied nutrition knowledge.

Assessing individual food choices within health and nutrition related research is challenging and there is a strong need for valid and reliable instruments. In this paper, we introduce the Multiple Food Test as a new tool for measuring food choices and applied nutrition knowledge. The Multiple Food Test has the format of an image selection task. Part one of the Multiple Food Test consists of 18 trials in which participants are presented with sets of four food items and asked to choose one item they would prefer to consume (choice scale). In part two, participants saw the same 18 trials and were asked to indicate which of the items presented they perceived as being the healthiest (applied knowledge scale). Results across three studies (total N = 666) indicate that both subscales of the Multiple Food Test have good psychometric properties. Healthier choices were significantly associated with implicit theories of health, healthy eating frequency and importance (Study 1), a stronger health versus taste motive (Study 1 and 2), self-control, and habitual fruit and vegetable intake (Study 2). In Study 3, choices in the Multiple Food Test positively predicted actual food choices. The applied knowledge scale showed agreement with an existing nutrition knowledge scale, and higher scores were associated with higher levels of self-control (Study 2). The Multiple Food Test presents new opportunities to evaluate underlying variables and interventions that influence food choice or eating behavior.

Introducing functional and dysfunctional self-licensing: Associations with indices of (un)successful dietary regulation.

OBJECTIVE: Giving in to food temptations is typically labeled as self-regulation failure. However, when indulgence stems from self-licensing processes, that is, relying on reasons to justify diet deviations, these instances might actually promote successful goal striving. This research aimed to theoretically define and test under what conditions self-licensing would be considered functional (e.g., when it ultimately serves the long-term goal of weight control) and dysfunctional (e.g., when it threatens successful goal striving). METHOD: First, a pool of items reflecting functional and dysfunctional ways of self-licensing was tested and representative items were selected (Study 1; N = 194). Next, their classification was corroborated by examining the associations with indices of (un)successful dietary regulation (Study 2; N = 147). Finally, it was tested whether (dys)functional self-licensing predicted unhealthy snack intake, by means of participants keeping an unhealthy snack diary (Study 3; N = 54). RESULTS: The theorized distinction was confirmed, and the obtained correlational patterns supported the proposed (dys)functionality of the two types of self-licensing. Importantly, results showed that dysfunctional self-licensing predicted higher snack intake, whereas functional self-licensing predicted lower snack intake. CONCLUSION: The present studies provide evidence for the existence of two types of self-licensing, and thereby contribute to theoretical development.

Executive functions and the self-regulation of eating behavior: A review.

In order to pursue the long-term goal of losing weight, a dieter needs to resist the urge to eat appealing, tasty foods. Beside sufficient motivation to resist these foods, dieters also need the capacity for successful self-regulation, and this capacity is strongly related to executive functions. Executive function is an umbrella term encompassing a number of interrelated higher-order cognitive processes that allow people to take goal-directed action. In this review, we outline how basic facets of executive functioning (updating, inhibiting, and shifting) contribute to the successful self-regulation of eating behavior. Moreover, we identify aspects of the self-regulation of eating behavior that are still under-researched. We conclude by outlining the implications of the extant research for intervention strategies and the design of future research studies on the role of executive functions for the self-regulation of eating behavior.

Whether people believe that overweight is unhealthy depends on their BMI.

An online experiment with 536 participants was conducted to investigate how people who differ in body weight perceive scientific information on body weight and mortality. The results showed that individuals who were aware that they are overweight were more inclined to trust a study that showed that overweight reduces mortality (P < 0.001). This finding is relevant as the BMI-mortality association remains a matter of scientific and public debate and people's risk perceptions influences their willingness to change behaviour.

Toward a mechanistic understanding of the impact of food insecurity on obesity.

Nettle et al. provide a useful but incomplete analysis of the drivers of obesity. In this commentary, we argue that a dual-motives conceptualization of self-control, together with insights from the psychology of (perceived and actual) scarcity, might help advance a more fine-grained mechanistic understanding of the observed association between food insecurity and obesity.

Time for change? Food choices in the transition to cohabitation and parenthood.

OBJECTIVE: We compared the dietary behaviour of three different household types and explored developmental trends in food choices following a life event. DESIGN: The study is based on data from three Swiss Food Panel survey periods. A cross-sectional comparison between household types was conducted by using a one-way independent ANOVA. Repeated measures were analysed with a mixed ANCOVA to examine changes in dietary behaviour following a life event. SETTING: Participants in the survey filled in a questionnaire in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. SUBJECTS: The final sample consisted of 3559 persons with a mean age of 56 years (range 22-94 years; 46 % men). Seventy-two people moved in with their partner and sixty-five people reported the birth of their first child. RESULTS: Cross-sectional evidence confirmed that women living in households with a partner reported higher consumption frequencies for meat and processed meats compared with those living alone. Men living in cohabitation had a higher vegetable intake. The transitional effect of moving in with a partner, however, resulted in a higher intake of processed meats for both genders and a higher intake of pork and savoury items for men. Transition to motherhood was linked to an increase in vegetable consumption, while the transition to fatherhood did not change consumption patterns significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals in life-stage transitions are more likely to change their nutritional strategies and life events can be a window of opportunity for changes towards better food choices.

Icon Arrays for Medical Risk Communication: Do Icon Type and Color Influence Cardiovascular Risk Perception and Recall?

BACKGROUND: Icon arrays have been shown to be an effective method for communicating medical risk information. However, in practice, icon arrays used to visualize personal risks often differ in the type and color of the icons. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of icon type and color on the perception and recall of cardiovascular risk, as little is known about how color affects the perception of icon arrays. METHODS: A total of 866 participants aged 40 to 90 years representative of the German population in terms of gender and age completed an online experiment. Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental groups. They received their hypothetical 10-year cardiovascular risk using an icon array that varied by icon type (smiley v. person) and color (black/white v. red/yellow). We measured risk perception, emotional response, intentions of taking action to reduce the risk (e.g., increasing one's physical activity), risk recall, and graph evaluation/trustworthiness, as well as numeracy and graphical literacy. RESULTS: Icon arrays using person icons were evaluated more positively. There was no effect of icons or color on risk perception, emotional response, intentions of taking action to reduce the risk, or trustworthiness of the graph. While more numerate/graphical literate participants were more likely to correctly recall the presented risk estimate, icon type and color did not influence the probability of correct recall. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in the perception of the tested icon arrays were rather small, suggesting that they may be equally suitable for communicating medical risks. Further research on the robustness of these results across other colors, icons, and risk domains could add to guidelines on the design of visual aids. HIGHLIGHTS: The use of different icons and colors did not influence the perception and the probability of recalling the 10-year cardiovascular risk, the emotional response, or the intentions to reduce the presented risk.Icon arrays with person icons were evaluated more positively.There was no evidence to suggest that the effectiveness of the studied icon arrays varied based on individuals' levels of numerical or graphical literacy, nor did it differ between people with or without a history of CVD or on medication for an increased CVD risk.

Parental education and neighbourhood socioeconomic status in the prediction of childhood overweight: A multilevel analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined cross-level interaction between parental education and neighbourhood SES in predicting overweight including obesity among school-aged children. METHODS: This analysis used data from 19 984 children aged 5-6 years participating in the school-entry examination of the years 2015 to 2019 in the Aachen city region in Germany. We employed multilevel logistic regression models to predict overweight based on parental education and neighbourhood SES, along with their cross-level interaction, while controlling for several characteristics of the child. RESULTS: Children from families with intermediate (OR: 1.99; 95% CI, 1.65-2.40) and low parental education (OR: 2.55; 95% CI, 1.92-3.39) and from neighbourhoods with intermediate (OR: 1.25; 95% CI, 1.02-1.53) and low SES (OR: 1.61; 95% CI, 1.29-2.02) were at significantly higher odds for overweight. There was an indication of a cross-level interaction effect (p-value <0.10) to the disadvantage of children with higher parental education, suggesting that inequalities in overweight decrease in more deprived neighbourhoods. The predicted probability of overweight for children with high parental education increased from 6.4% in high SES neighbourhoods to 7.8% in intermediate and 9.9% in low SES neighbourhoods. Sensitivity analyses for obesity and a higher context level of spatial SES confirmed the results. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the crucial role of both individual and contextual socioeconomic conditions in predicting childhood overweight. They also suggest that the impact of neighbourhood socioeconomic status on childhood overweight varies by parental education, particularly disadvantaging children with higher parental education, indicating a social contagion of overweight through spatial disadvantage.

Consumer-perceived risks and choices about pharmaceuticals in the environment: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing concern that pollution from pharmaceuticals used in human medicine and agriculture can be a threat to the environment. Little is known, however, if people are aware that pharmaceuticals may have a detrimental influence on the environment. The present study examines people's risk perception and choices in regard to environmental risks of pharmaceuticals used in human medicine and for agricultural purposes. METHODS: A representative sample of the U.S. population (N = 640) was surveyed. Respondents completed a hypothetical choice task that involved tradeoffs between human and environmental health. In addition, it was examined how much people would support an environment policy related to drug regulation. RESULTS: For agricultural pharmaceuticals, respondents reported a high level of satisfaction for a policy requiring farms to limit their use of antibiotics. In the domain of pharmaceuticals used in human medicine, we found that people were willing to consider environmental consequences when choosing a drug, but only when choices were made about treatment options for a rather harmless disease. In contrast, when decisions were made about treatment options for a severe disease, the drug's effectiveness was the most important criterion. CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that the environmental impact of a drug will be hardly considered in decisions about pharmaceuticals for severe diseases like cancer, and this may be due to the fact that these decisions are predominantly affective in nature. However, for less severe health risks, people are willing to balance health and environmental considerations.

Fit in 50 years: participation in high school sports best predicts one's physical activity after age 70.

BACKGROUND: The health benefits of physical activity are widely established, including decreased risk for disease and improved mental well-being. Yet many children, adolescents, and adults do not meet the minimum recommendations specified in current public health guidelines and physical activity is known to decrease during the life course. The aim of this study was to identify background or personality characteristics that predict whether a healthy 25 year-old would become a physically active 75 year-old. This could have powerful implications for targeting physical activity and health interventions. METHOD: A unique data set was collected of 712 healthy United States males who passed a rigorous physical exam in the 1940s and who were surveyed 50 years later (in 2000). Their physical activity level after 50 years was correlated and regressed across a wide number of demographic, behavioral, and personality variables from when they were 50 years younger. Data was analyzed in 2012. RESULTS: In contrast to prior beliefs, self-rated personality profile as a young man had little predictive influence on later-life physical activity. Instead, the single strongest predictor of later-life physical activity was whether he played a varsity sport in high school, and this was also related to fewer self-reported visits to the doctor. CONCLUSION: Encouraging systematic or frequent physical activity at a young age - whether through school sports or club opportunities - might be the best investment in long-term activeness. This is relevant at a time when funding for many sports programs is being eliminated and play time is being replaced with screen time.

Importance of cooking skills for balanced food choices.

A cooking skill scale was developed to measure cooking skills in a European adult population, and the relationship between cooking skills and the frequency of consumption of various food groups were examined. Moreover, it was determined which sociodemographic and psychological variables predict cooking skills. The data used in the present study are based on the first (2010) and second (2011) surveys of a yearly paper-and-pencil questionnaire (Swiss Food Panel). Data from 4436 participants (47.2% males) with a mean age of 55.5 years (SD=14.6, range 21-99) were available for analysis. The cooking skills scale was validated using a test-retest analysis, confirming that this new scale is a reliable and consistent instrument. Cooking enjoyment was the most important predictor for cooking skills, especially for men. Women had higher cooking skills in all age groups. Cooking skills correlated positively with weekly vegetable consumption, but negatively with weekly convenience food consumption frequency, even while holding the effect of health consciousness related to eating constant. In summary, cooking skills may help people to meet nutrition guidelines in their daily nutrition supply. They allow people to make healthier food choices. It is, therefore, important to teach children and teenagers how to cook and to encourage them to develop their cooking skills.

A Smartphone-Based Implicit Theories Intervention for Health Behavior Change: Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Implicit theories of health describe individuals' beliefs about the malleability of health. Individuals with an incremental theory of health believe that health, in general, is malleable, whereas individuals with an entity theory of health endorse the idea that health is largely fixed and predetermined. Previous research has shown that an incremental theory of health is associated with beneficial health outcomes and behaviors. A mobile health implicit theories intervention could be an effective way to increase health-promoting behaviors in the general population. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of a smartphone-based intervention designed to promote an incremental theory of health on the frequency of health-promoting behaviors in everyday life. The study used ecological momentary assessment to measure health behavior change. METHODS: This 2-arm, single-blind, delayed intervention design included 149 German participants (mean age 30.58, SD 9.71 years; n=79 female). Participants were asked to report their engagement in 10 health-promoting behaviors throughout the day for 3 weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to either an early intervention group (n=72) or a delayed intervention group (n=77). The intervention materials, designed to promote an incremental theory of health, were provided to participants after 1 week (early intervention group) or 2 weeks (delayed intervention group) of baseline behavior measurement. Data for this study were collected between September 2019 and October 2019. RESULTS: A paired-samples 2-tailed t test revealed that participants reported a stronger incremental theory after responding to the intervention materials (mean 5.58, SE 0.07) compared with incremental theory measured in an entry questionnaire (mean 5.29, SE 0.08; t148=4.07, SE 0.07; P<.001; 95% CI 0.15-0.43; d=0.33). Multilevel analyses showed that participants reported engaging in health-promoting behaviors more often after being presented with the intervention materials compared with baseline across conditions (b=0.14; t146.65=2.06, SE 0.07; P=.04; 95% CI 0.01-0.28). However, when the analysis was conducted separately for the early and delayed intervention groups, the intervention effect was only significant for the delayed intervention group (b=0.27; t1492.37=3.50, SE 0.08; P<.001; 95% CI 0.12-0.42). There was no significant increase in health-promoting behaviors for the early intervention group (b=0.02; t69.23=0.14, SE 0.11;P=.89; 95% CI -0.2 to 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that a smartphone-based intervention designed to promote an incremental theory of health is a cost- and time-effective approach to increase the frequency of engaging in health-promoting behaviors. However, research is needed to understand the reasons for the difference in intervention effects between the early and delayed intervention groups. The results of this study can guide the development of future digital health interventions that focus on implicit theories to promote health behavior change. TRIAL REGISTRATION: DRKS - German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00017379; https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00017379.

Personal protective behaviors in response to COVID-19: a longitudinal application of protection motivation theory.

Introduction: Disease outbreaks are expected to occur more frequently and spread more rapidly in the age of globalization. Personal protective behaviors strongly affect infection and death rates worldwide. It is therefore of prime importance to better understand which factors predict personal protective behaviors during a pandemic. Protection motivation theory (PMT) proposes that people's motivation to protect themselves is based on two appraisal processes: threat appraisal and coping appraisal. Building on PMT, this longitudinal study aimed to predict personal protective behaviors in response to COVID-19, including hand hygiene, physical distancing, and mask wearing. Method: In the first wave of the study (November, 2020), the two appraisal processes as specified in PMT as well as intentions to perform protective behaviors were assessed in a representative sample of German adults (N = 328). In the second wave of this study, which was conducted one month later, the frequency of protective behaviors was measured. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether threat and coping appraisal predicted intentions and protective behaviors. Results: Response rate for the second wave was high (87%). For all three behaviors, self-efficacy predicted intentions and also indirectly behavior (i.e., mediated via intentions). Furthermore, exploratory tests of alternative theoretical models suggested that both self-efficacy and costs have direct effects (i.e., independent from their relationship with intentions) on performed behavior. Conclusion: To support individuals to engage in protective behaviors during a pandemic, it is important to reduce barriers to action and to foster individuals' self-efficacy.

White Paper: Open Digital Health - accelerating transparent and scalable health promotion and treatment.

In this White Paper, we outline recommendations from the perspective of health psychology and behavioural science, addressing three research gaps: (1) What methods in the health psychology research toolkit can be best used for developing and evaluating digital health tools? (2) What are the most feasible strategies to reuse digital health tools across populations and settings? (3) What are the main advantages and challenges of sharing (openly publishing) data, code, intervention content and design features of digital health tools? We provide actionable suggestions for researchers joining the continuously growing Open Digital Health movement, poised to revolutionise health psychology research and practice in the coming years. This White Paper is positioned in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring how digital health tools have rapidly gained popularity in 2020-2022, when world-wide health promotion and treatment efforts rapidly shifted from face-to-face to remote delivery. This statement is written by the Directors of the not-for-profit Open Digital Health initiative (n = 6), Experts attending the European Health Psychology Society Synergy Expert Meeting (n = 17), and the initiative consultant, following a two-day meeting (19-20th August 2021).

Examining the relationship between affect and implicit associations: implications for risk perception.

It has been suggested that affect may play an important role in risk perception. Slovic et al. argued that people make use of the "affect heuristic" when assessing risks because it is easier and more efficient to rely on spontaneous affective reactions than to analyze all available information. In the present studies, a single category implicit association test (SC-IAT) to measure associations evoked by different hazards was employed. In the first study, we tested the extent to which the SC-IAT corresponds to the theoretical construct of affect in a risk framework. Specifically, we found that the SC-IAT correlates with other explicit measures that claim to measure affect, as well as with a measure of trust, but not with a measure that captures a different construct (subjective knowledge). In the second study, we addressed the question of whether hazards that vary along the dread dimension of the psychometric paradigm also differ in the affect they evoke. The results of the SC-IAT indicated that a high-dread hazard (nuclear power) elicits negative associations. Moreover, the high-dread hazard evoked more negative associations than a medium-dread hazard (hydroelectric power). In contrast, a nondread hazard (home appliances) led to positive associations. The results of our study highlight the importance of affect in shaping attitudes and opinions toward risks. The results further suggest that implicit measures may provide valuable insight into people's risk perception above and beyond explicit measures.

Egocentric social network correlates of physical activity.

BACKGROUND: The social environment might play an important role in explaining people's physical activity (PA) behavior. However, little is known regarding whether personal networks differ between physically active and physically inactive people. This study aimed to examine the relationship between personal network characteristics and adults' physical (in)activity. METHODS: An egocentric social network study was conducted in a random sample in Switzerland (n = 529, mean age of 53 years, 54% females). Individual and personal network measures were compared between regular exercisers and non-exercisers. The extent of these factors' association with PA levels was also examined. RESULTS: Non-exercisers (n = 183) had 70% non-exercising individuals in their personal networks, indicating homogeneity, whereas regular exercisers (n = 346) had 57% regularly exercising individuals in their networks, meaning more heterogeneous personal networks. Additionally, having more regular exercisers in personal networks was associated with higher PA levels, over and above individual factors. Respondents with an entirely active personal network reported, on average, 1 day of PA more per week than respondents who had a completely inactive personal network. Other personal network characteristics, such as network size or gender composition, were not associated with PA. CONCLUSION: Non-exercisers seem to be clustered in inactive networks that provide fewer opportunities and resources, as well as less social support, for PA. To effectively promote PA, both individuals and personal networks need to be addressed, particularly the networks of inactive people (e.g., by promoting group activities).