ABSTRACT
This chapter defines culture and describes its influence on physical activity behaviors, as well as provides suggestions for how to develop culturally competent/sensitive interventions. It uses the term culturally competent/sensitive to describe the extent to which congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies of a specific cultural group are used in a respectful and skillful manner to promote physical activity. Strategies to enhance cultural competency/sensitivity of an intervention have traditionally been divided into two overarching categories: surface structure strategies and deep structure strategies. Where surface structure strategies are primarily used to make the target group feel comfortable and familiar with the program or materials, deep structure strategies aim to engage the core values and beliefs of target audience to move them toward behavior change. A physical activity intervention may also target specific cultural groups by incorporating common cultural themes into intervention strategies. To maximize cultural competency/sensitivity, the development and adaptation of physical activity interventions should incorporate both surface and deep structure strategies.
