Abstract
BackgroundThe belief that adolescents engaged in sports increase their overall physical activity level while simultaneously decreasing physical inactivity has been the foundation of many intervention programs in developing countries. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between regular participation in sports and both active behaviors and TV viewing during leisure time.MethodsA total of 1752 Brazilian adolescents (812 = male and 940 = female) participated in this study. Regular participation in sports, as well as active behaviors (exemplified by walking or cycling) and TV viewing during leisure time were assessed by means of a questionnaire. The chi-square test analyzed the association between sports practice and leisure time behaviors, and the Poisson regression with robust variance indicated the magnitude of these associations.ResultsThe prevalence of regular participation in sports was 14.8% (95% confidence interval 13.2% to 16.5%). After adjustment for all confounders, participation in sports was associated with, at the highest frequency, cycling (PR = 2.55 [1.80–3.60]) and walking (PR = 2.69 [1.98–3.64]) during leisure time. However, there was not an association between the participation in sports and frequency of TV viewing (PR = 1.28 [0.81–2.02]).ConclusionThis study presented data indicating that the regular participation in sports is positively associated with a higher frequency of physically active behaviors during leisure time. However, the results did not support the hypothesis that the engagement in sports necessarily decreases leisure time spent in TV viewing.
Highlights
The belief that adolescents engaged in sports increase their overall physical activity level while simultaneously decreasing physical inactivity has been the foundation of many intervention programs in developing countries
15% (n = 67) of the students who refused participate were enrolled in private schools
* = adjusted for gender, age, family socio-economic status and parent's schooling; L-Frequency = low frequency; M-Frequency = middle frequency; H-Frequency = high frequency; PR = prevalence ratio; 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = confidence interval of 95%. This cross-sectional study enrolled adolescents of both genders and indicated that, even after adjustment for important confounders associated with physical activity (PA), regular participation in sports was associated with active leisure time behaviors, but not with sedentary behaviors
Summary
The belief that adolescents engaged in sports increase their overall physical activity level while simultaneously decreasing physical inactivity has been the foundation of many intervention programs in developing countries. The concern over physical inactivity is justified because it is a primary factor in the development of many chronic diseases, which lead to productivity loss, and increase the public health care burden [2]. In developing countries, both children and adolescents have been the special focus of sports-promoting public health strategies. These strategies have normally targeted to increase the physical activity level (PAL) of these populations, assuming that, thereby, the level of physical inactivity would be decreased
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