ANALYSIS FROM THE SCHOOL SETTING: USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS VS. PRACTICE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Abstract

The aim of this research is to describe the addiction to social networks and the level of PA practice of adolescents considering the role of sex, age and BMI. The study carried out was a cross-sectional descriptive study, with the participation of 103 students of compulsory secondary education (ESO) between 14 and 17 years of age. A sociodemographic questionnaire (which was used to divide the sample by sex - male and female - and by age - 14, 15, 16 and 17 years old-9), the Scale to measure students' addiction to social networks, adapted by Cabero-Almenara et al. (2020) from the original instrument by Sahin (2018) and for the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) designed by the World Health Organization (2014), following the recommendations the schoolchildren were classified into active and sedentary. The BMI of the schoolchildren was obtained in a self-reported manner (Baile & González-Calderón, 2014) and subsequently the schoolchildren were classified according to the reference indicators collected in the tables of the Orbegozo foundation (Sobradillo et al., 2004). The results of this study show that girls have a greater need to be connected than boys. Although to a moderate extent, obese schoolchildren have the greatest problems with social networking. The problem of social networking is more significant among older schoolchildren, with younger schoolchildren showing less satisfaction with being online. The level of physical activity determines that boys spend more time than girls, and it is schoolchildren aged 14 who engage in more intense physical activity. In relation to body mass index, the schoolchildren who do more physical activity are those who are normal weight. It can be concluded that the level of satisfaction with the use of social networks increases with age. The level of moderate PA practice is higher in boys, with normal-weight schoolchildren being more active than those with excess weight.