Inactive behavior in adolescent students of the Brazilian western Amazon

Abstract

Objective: To identify the prevalence of physical inactivity in adolescent students in the city of Porto Velho, RO, Northern Brazil, and its associated factors. Methods: School-based study, conducted with 2,694 adolescents. The self-reported variable for outcome was physical inactivity. Factors associated with inactive behavior were verified by multiple logistic regression. The independent variables were inserted into the model in hierarchical blocks. Results: The overall prevalence of inactive behavior was 39.5%. Females showed a higher prevalence of physical inactivity (46.2%) than males (31.4%). Adolescents in private schools and with reports of negative health perception had a high prevalence of physical inactivity. Regarding associated factors, the female sex showed a magnitude of association of 1.84 with physical inactivity. Being in a private school was associated with a 2.54 times greater chance of physical inactivity compared to public school students. Going to school by bus, car or motorcycle was associated with a 1.29 and 1.63 higher chance of physical inactivity respectively. Adolescents who reported having a negative health perception had 1.29 higher chance of physical inactivity, while having excess body fat showed magnitude of association of 1.36 in adolescents. Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of physical inactivity in the studied adolescents. Considering that the behavior of physical inactivity adopted during adolescence may continue in adulthood, the promotion of actions that can change this behavior may improve health in the future as well as quality of life.