Do Adolescents Who Meet Physical Activity Recommendations on Weekdays Also Meet Them on Weekends? A Cross-Sectional Study in Colombia.

Fernando Galindo-Perdomo,Carmen Peiró-Velert,Alexandra Valencia-Peris

doi:10.3390/ijerph18030897

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether Colombian adolescents fulfill physical activity (PA) recommendations by type of day depending on several variables. A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 2624 adolescents from Neiva (Colombia) using the Seven Day PA Recall and the Family Affluence Scale II self-reported questionnaires. Statistical analyses were performed to find any differences by gender, socioeconomic status, PA recommendations accomplishment, participation in organized and non-organized PA, parents’ involvement in sport, and adolescents’ academic achievement, and to determine the probability of complying with the PA guidelines. Only 12.3% of the participants met the PA recommendations on weekdays and weekends. Girls maintained their (in)active patterns during the week more than boys (84.4% vs. 70.7%, respectively), while more boys than girls changed them according to the type of day (25.3% vs. 19.6%). Participation in organized sports was the predictor variable with the highest probability of both boys and girls complying with the PA recommendations on weekdays. Non-organized activities were more likely to make girls more active on weekends. In conclusion, a wider offer of organized and non-competitive PA over the weekend and broader sports schedules should be provided to youth in Neiva.

Highlights

Accepted: 19 January 2021Research indicates that regular physical activity (PA) has beneficial health effects in childhood and adolescence [1,2]
Significant effects are shown in bold (p < 0.05). This is the first study to analyze the profiles of Colombian adolescents that considers whether PA recommendations were met according to the type of day and several sociodemographic variables. It first examined the prevalence of the overallcompliant participants regarding their time involved in PA on weekdays and weekends, as well as the prevalence stratified by gender
The results showed the importance of participation in both sports clubs and non-organized PA as predictors of Colombian adolescents being active on weekdays and inactive on weekends

Summary

Introduction

Accepted: 19 January 2021Research indicates that regular physical activity (PA) has beneficial health effects in childhood and adolescence [1,2]. This trend can be found in studies conducted in the USA and Canada [6,7], Europe [8,9,10,11], Korea [12], and in a multinational study [13,14] They consistently showed that a higher percentage of those who meet the recommendations are males, younger students and those with higher socioeconomic status (SES). This trend is evident in some Colombian studies conducted on children and adolescent populations [15,16,17,18]. Piñeros and Pardo’s work with 13-to-15-year-old adolescents from five Colombian cities revealed that 15% engaged in PA at least 60 min/day during the Published: 21 January 2021

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